Naruto: Uzumaki Reborn!
by LightVex
Summary: Naruto takes on the traits and skills of the Uzumaki, and through Kakashi's help is able to connect to his roots and gain all new powers. Watch Naruto as he spreads the once feared name of the Uzumaki and attempts to make his mark on the ninja world! Naruhina pairing.
1. Chapter 1

Well hello everyone, as I stated in my other story that is also currently up I'm making a comeback after all this time with three stories, the third of which I have delayed due to positive response to my Story Naruto: Son of the Yellow Flash. However I hope you all enjoy this story as much as that one and continue to give me feedback on both. Any interested Beta's can PM me. Now unto the story of Naruto: Uzumaki Reborn!

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"You can tell him about his mother at the very least dammit!" Kakashi Hatake bellowed with controlled rage. The only physical sign of his anger being his hands clenching at his sides. He stood before the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Kakashi was only 18 years into his life, but the heavy fatigue and experience worn in his features said otherwise.

"Kakashi, Minato and Kushina's marriage may have been a secret, but she was known to be seen with Minato. You think that nobody will see his features and assume that he is their child?" Hiruzen answered back with reserved and eerily calm respect. Kakashi had just returned from escorting Naruto home after school at the academy. The child was already 5 years old and had been attending for a year already. Yet every day, Kakashi found that the blonde waited for him alone. No friends to be seen, not even a passing goodbye or good night as he stumbled through the crowds of children.

"And what will happen to him if he goes through life believing he has never had anyone? Do you know what he asked me after his first day of school Lord Hokage? He asked me if his parents had abandoned him. He asked me if anybody at all liked him. Lord Hokage, if you don't give him something, I'm afraid of what might happen to him mentally." Kakashi spoke with a somewhat panicked and worried tone, like a man speaking worriedly of a close friend or even a younger brother. Hiruzen's eyebrows knit in thought as he leaned forward in his chair. Several tense seconds passed as the wheels turned in the man's head.

"Kakashi, I'll let you tell him." Kakashi's eyes lit up in clear happiness, his sharingan eye snapping open in surprise at the response. "However, only when he graduates school as a Genin. Until then, I'm giving you an assignment that will be the last of your ANBU career. Become Naruto's living family. Its one thing to tell him that he was cared for, it's entirely another to give him someone that cares for him. You've shown me that you care about him Kakashi, and now I'm giving you an order to train Naruto and raise him like his parents would have wanted!" Hiruzen finished with a fire in his eyes as Kakashi's eyes continued to widen. The white haired man never thought he would be given a task like this. He thought for sure that something like this would be given to the boy's actual god parents. However, both of them had fled the village, so he saw some sense in the decision.

"I-I'll do my best, Lord Third." Kakashi said. Those were the only words he could seem to get through all the thoughts running in his head. Where would Naruto sleep? What do kids eat? Does he still wear diapers? No, that's dumb. Kakashi's head began to steam as he raced through every anxiety associated with taking care of a kid.

"Kakashi, I'll have a place set up at this address for tomorrow once Naruto gets out of school. I'm sure it will be a pleasant surprise for the both of you." The Hokage spoke once again in a bemused grandfatherly tone. Kakashi simply nodded his head and exited the Hokage's office, his eyes still wide with surprise that things ended that way. However, Hiruzen simply sat there with a small smile etched onto his features. He was glad to have found someone to take care of the boy. Now all he had to worry about was this new clan that arose in the land of Waves recently, claiming that they were the Uzumaki.

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"Naruto let's go!" Called the silver haired ANBU once again. Naruto looked up from the swing he was resting on and focused on that man with wide violet eyes. The one that was always here at the same time every day. Except today, he was 5 minutes early. Naruto thought nothing of it and plastered on a smile as he jogged up to the man. Expecting the same walk as always he started walking in the direction of his house, only to find he was being lifted up by the back of his jacket. He found himself sitting on the shoulders of the silver haired ANBU. The man didn't seem to exhibit any strain from the new weight, but Naruto was still very confused. Before he could ask anything, his train of thought was broken by the man's sudden loud and excited voice.

"Hold on Naruto!" The silver haired ANBU called as they took off in a blur of movement. Naruto's hands were now firmly clamped down over Kakashi's head as the man held onto his legs. The fear in Naruto was completely overtaken by the excitement however. His true grin split his cheeks as they raced along the rooftops. The wind throwing his blonde hair back straight as the semi-spiked tresses straightened out with the wind.

"Alright, lesson number 1. Chakra control." Kakashi howled through the wind as they jumped from building to building, dodging everything in their way. "I want you to focus your chakra unto the parts of your body touching my shoulders and hands. Make yourself stick to me so you don't have to hold on with your hands" Kakashi yelled at Naruto before performing a mid-air triple back flip that Naruto noted as the coolest thing he had ever experienced to date. The blonde, however, realized he was being taught. He thought about the little bit of chakra theory they had learned at the academy already and thought about chakra. It didn't have a set physical form and it had no set physical properties. However, ninja could manipulate it and give it those properties through either hand signs or force of will. Giving it a physical form as solid liquid or gas could even be done if one trained enough. Naruto focused and pushed his chakra into his legs and rear. He then started thinking about glue and chewing gum. He thought of the chakra gluing him together with Kakashi and when he felt a sudden pulling pressure in his legs, he grinned and let his hands go. For a split second he thought he had failed as his torso fell back, only to soon find that his legs and rear were stuck squarely to Kakashi's shoulders. He pulled his torso up and began giggling endlessly.

"Great job Naruto! Now I want you to try and stand up on my shoulders. I'll slow it down a bit" Kakashi said as he evidently slowed down to about half his previous speed. However his speed still made him a blur to those not paying close attention. Naruto gulped and nodded as he was motivated by his success a moment ago. Bracing his hands against Kakashi's head, he started to lift himself up. Releasing the chakra from the parts of his that he was moving, he found himself kneeling after about a minute and one at a time, he placed his feet on Kakashi's shoulders and lifted himself up while still clinging to Kakashi's head. He focused all the chakra he could muster into his feet and thought about the glue again. Nodding his head at himself, he let go of Kakashi's head and stood tall. A wide grin broke out on his face as he lost his concentration and Kakashi sailed forward through the air, leaving Naruto stranded mid-air with more velocity than the blonde could deal with.

"Help MEEEEEEEEE!" Naruto screamed as he realized his situation. The blonde spotted a metal pole coming up in front of him and knew hitting it would spell some nasty bruises. Focusing on the chakra in his feet, he started thinking about something that could push him out of the way. Something that offers force. Well, there was explosions, but that would burn him up. Wait, this wasn't fire, it was chakra. As long as he blew it up without making it flame, it would only be force. And if he aimed that force away from him, it would push him in the opposite direction. Focusing his mind, the blonde thought about fireworks without the fire. Just explosions. Just as he was about to impact the pole, chakra erupted from the bottoms of his feet and pushed him with great force out of the way. However, the force was too much and sent him careening toward the side of a building. Panting slightly, the blonde knew he couldn't do that again. As he attempted to find a solution, he suddenly found himself stopped. The sudden loss of velocity making his stomach turn a little, but he was fine.

"That was great Naruto, really great. Oh and by the way, welcome to our new home" Kakashi said. His ANBU mask was clipped to his belt and Naruto was finally able to gaze up at the silver haired man. The blonde's eyes were wide with joy and hope and so many other things as Kakashi continued speaking. "From now on, I'm going to be taking care of you, and training you. Sound good?" Kakashi's eyes gleamed with something Naruto hadn't really seen before. He didn't know what it was, but it made him want to smile. The blonde couldn't really do anything as he was escorted into the building he was about to crash into. It seemed a simple enough two story townhouse. Something any family with stable income could afford. But to Naruto, it was something he could have only dreamed of before now.

"This isn't a dream r-right?" Naruto stuttered out as Kakashi closed the door behind them. Kakashi looked Naruto in the eyes and smiled, his full face visible to the blonde. He shook his head and Naruto's eyes lit up as he jumped up and latched his arms around the man's neck. He finally had a home and a…

"Brother, you're my big brother now!" Naruto said with finality as Kakashi's eyes widened. The man's grin grew wider as he wrapped his arms around his new little brother and spun around wildly. In that instant they were both truly happy. Two brothers with their whole lives ahead of them.

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"Naruto it's your affinity and everything. Can't you just move the leaf?" Kakashi groaned out as he watched a now 12 year old Naruto struggle to move a leaf in the palm of his hand. The kid had done amazing in training up until it was time for elemental techniques. For the past 6 months, they had been trying to find an elemental technique he could use and still, he couldn't even demonstrate elemental manipulation in the most finite amounts. Kakashi had a theory, but what he was seeing now was the last straw in it being almost certain.

"I'm trying Bro, but I just can't do it!" Naruto yelled as a sudden expulsion of chakra sent the leaf flying. However it wasn't wind, it was simply raw chakra in the form of a push. Before Naruto could do anything else, Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder to silence him. His Sharingan was spinning wildly as he analyzed Naruto.

"I think I know what's wrong. It seems that your chakra is so thick and powerful that your undeveloped chakra nodes can't manipulate it to change into an element. Changing shape and basic properties can be done just fine, but actually making your chakra an element isn't possible, since elemental manipulation is the final stage of chakra manipulation and thus the most intricate. So Naruto, until your body fully matures, you will have to make do with pure chakra manipulation." Kakashi said with finality and Naruto's head slumped forward in disappointment. He had seen all the amazing things his brother could do with elemental Jutsu and having to wait sucked hard. However, he had no time to sulk as he had to get going to his team assignments. He had passed the Genin exam just fine with all his extra effort and today was the day he was going to get his Genin team. Suffice to say, he was very, very hyper.

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"Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Hinata Hyuuga." Iruka called out and Naruto looked across the classroom at Sasuke and grinned in challenge. The Uchiha opted to ignore the glance and Naruto fumed at that. He then looked to his right at Hinata, who was blushing terribly. Naruto grinned and rested his hand on the top of her head. Hinata's features relaxed, but her blush raged on, as the blonde used his signature technique for calming his friend down. Iruka called out the other teams and Naruto watched in silence as a Sensei one by one arrived to pick up his classmates. He had been busy calming Hinata down so they hadn't heard who their Sensei was, but both were confident it would Naruto's big brother Kakashi. Who else would he teach now that he was a Jonin?

"Team 7!" Iruka yelled at the three kids as their attention focused on him. He seemed to have a sympathetic look on his face as he continued to speak "Once again, your sensei will be Anko Mitarashi and she left instructions for you three to find her in the forest of Death by the end of the day. Fail and she claims you will be sent back here to the academy." Iruka finished with a sweat drop rolling down his cheek. The three students locked eyes and leapt out the conveniently open window toward the training grounds.

"Sasuke, Hinata on me!" Naruto called as they ran along the village's rooftops. Sasuke fell into his right while Hinata ran on his left. Sasuke was visibly irritated by the command, but Naruto had taken the initiative towards rallying together, so he would at least listen to what the blonde had to say.

"Anko is a friend of big bro Kakashi and he said that she actually lives in the forest of death. So assume she knows every square inch of that place like the back of her hand. I can send out a sweeping net of shadow clones once we arrive but they can be killed by the jungle beasts easily, so that's a waste. Hinata what's the range for your byakugan to notice chakra signatures?" Naruto barked out as they flew through the air, their steps falling in synchronization as they had been taught to do when moving in groups.

"I'm good for five hundred metres in all directions if it's a chakra signature I'm looking for. I can keep that distance up while patrolling the whole forest, but I can extend my range to about 5 kilometres. However, that'll drain my chakra to zero after two scans." Hinata labeled off and Sasuke nodded his head in slight recognition of the Hyuga's ability's. Naruto nodded, hearing that as they arrived at the front of the training ground. 'Forest of Death' was displayed over a large, obviously home-made banner. Naruto pulled out a kunai and after nicking his thumb on it began steadily flying through hand seals that were done within seconds. He slammed his hand on the ground and in a puff of smoke several ninja hounds appeared. They ranged in size and visible ferocity but all wore orange scarves with a red swirl on them, the same swirl that adorned the back of Naruto's orange jacket. Seeing the colour Naruto momentarily thought about how Kakashi had only let him keep the orange jacket. The rest of the blonde's attire was simple black ANBU style pants and shirt, along with light close-toed shoes that resembled slippers in a way. Shaking himself back into focus, he formed a small group of shadow clones in a large puff of smoke and each shadow clone stood himself next to a dog.

"Spread out and look for the scent coming from that banner. Once you locate the target, I want you to dispel so I can get the location. However, the rest of you still need to look around as she is likely to stay on the move. And watch out for the wildlife!" Naruto commanded and with quick nods of recognition both the dogs and clones ran off into the woods. Both Sasuke and Hinata were used to the blonde's dogs and clones, so no surprise was evident in their expressions.

"I guess it's not a horrible idea" Sasuke mumbled toward Naruto who grinned in return to the Uchiha. Hinata, seeing Naruto take charge, was only able to nod her head and twiddle her fingers. Naruto walked up to his two team mates and before he could say another word, he perked up and grinned foxily.

"Looks like our targets been located." Naruto said and he took off in a mad sprint that Sasuke and Hinata struggled to keep up with. After about 30 seconds, they found themselves in some non-specific part of the forest. Naruto looked around quickly and signaled to Hinata by pointing at his eyes. She nodded and with a single hand seal, the veins around her eyes bulged and her field of vision expanded immensely.

"10 large snakes with chakra signatures in the forest around us, all equally spaced out. A much larger chakra signature just left the five hundred metre range. I didn't get a shape but I'll assume it is Anko-sensei" Hinata rattled off in a rare show of seriousness. Naruto nodded and not a moment later, two snakes, each about 50 metres in length and as thick as a telephone poll, shot out of the woods. Naruto and Sasuke took off toward the individual snakes in mid-air. Naruto held a hand seal and a clone appeared to throw him through the air, giving him the velocity to soar past the snake. As he passed through the air next to it, he jammed his kunai in its thick hide and pulled powerfully. Allowing the resistance of the snakes flesh to slow his velocity. The snake hissed loudly, as the pain made it lose focus and it impacted with the ground harshly. Before it could regain its bearings, Naruto jammed a kunai straight through its head, affectively terminating the threat. A second later, a charred snake and an unscathed Sasuke landed on the ground. One much more graceful than the other. Naruto grinned at the Uchiha and was only broken out of his pride by a shout of surprise. Naruto looked over to Hinata who had the last 8 snakes all flying toward her from all directions. Sasuke ran toward the Hyuuga while Naruto flashed through hand seals in a panic and slammed his hands into the ground.

Hinata looked all around her and panic set in as she realized there was no escape route. Her fear froze her in place and her focus on the byakugan broke, allowing the technique to fade. As the snakes were just upon her, she clenched her eyes shut. The last thing she expected where pained hisses all around and the sound of rattling chains to reverberate through the air. **"Uzumaki Hidden Jutsu: Chakra Chains: Pierce!"** Naruto growled as he grinned in satisfaction, seeing he had hit all his marks. Hinata meanwhile looked all around and found that 8 golden chains had sprung from the ground around her and with wicked sharp looking spear heads had skewered all the snakes through some part of their body, rendering some of them dead and the other immobile. Sasuke, seeing Naruto couldn't hold them there all day, expertly tossed Kunai in rapid succession into each of their heads. Finally, Naruto let go of the Jutsu and both his team mates watched as the chakra chains receded through the ground and into the palms of his hands. Seemingly rejuvenated, Naruto grinned.

"Not bad brats!" A low and somewhat jovial female voice rung out and all three looked up to see a woman standing on a branch. Her hair was light purple and tied up out of her face to reveal a childishly grinning face. Her attire consisted of a full body mesh suit and a short off-orange skirt. Above all that, she wore a beige trench coat that reached all the way to her ankles, but was completely open in the front.

"Anko-sensei, did you have to sick so many on us!?" Naruto angrily moaned, already knowing the woman from her many visits to his household. From his experience, she wasn't bad or even really mean… just really crazy. That was enough for him to have a small resentment towards the woman. There certainly were no other factors involved at all.

"Shut yer trap Naruto, those weren't even real summons, just temporary snake shadows." Anko explained and as if on cue, they all disappeared in small clouds of smoke. Naruto swore as he tried to wrap his head around, using a shadow clone variant to create other creatures. Alas, the secrets of said technique were only privy to Anko, as far as he knew.

"How about you close your legs!" Naruto growled out as his violet eyes flamed with rebellion. Kakashi was the only one allowed to lecture him like that. A tick mark grew on Anko's forehead and she cracked her neck to both sides before withdrawing two kunai. She looked very angry, but in response, Naruto only withdrew two kunai of his own. The fire in his eyes grew brighter as he silently accepted the duel.

"Alright brats, part two will be making sure I don't kill the blonde!" Anko charged with heat in her eyes and Naruto was immediately on the defensive against the woman as he struggled to find an opening to push back. Both Hinata and Sasuke met gazes and leapt into action. Hinata charged forward and struck at Anko with a double palmed thrust fueled with a visible blue flame of chakra. The Jonin simply whirled around the attack and prepared a vicious backhand to the Hyuuga. However, before she could follow through with her attack, a rain of shuriken made her leap back to avoid the near invisible wires. Sasuke ditched his grip on the wires and took off toward Anko with two kunai brandished. He started his barrage with a wide slash and followed it up with a quick rotation to bring his other kunai in for a stab. Seeing an opening in the Uchiha's back, Anko reared her hand back for a haymaker, only for her arm to be locked in place by those same chains Naruto had used on her snakes.

" **Uzumaki Hidden Jutsu: Chakra Chains: Bind."** Naruto muttered loudly enough for all to hear as three more chains sprung up and wrapped around Anko. She seemed to grow weaker by the second and her eyes widened in slight panic. "Won't be able to substitute out of these ones Sensei. These chains in return for being a lot slower are also able to simultaneously drain your chakra and cut off your connection to it." Naruto chided with a wide grin as sweat broke out on his brow. It was clear he had to focus immensely and thus did not notice a small purple snake coiling up behind him. Hinata caught sight of it with her Byakugan, but was not fast enough to assist the blonde. It sunk it's fangs into his leg, momentarily breaking his concentration and causing the chains to crumble all around Anko. The woman grinned slightly and only then realized that she was running on one tenth of her chakra reserves.' What kind of technique was that!?' She thought as Naruto slapped the small snake, causing it to disappear in a cloud of smoke. All three Genin readied themselves again and she held up her hands in what seemed to be surrender.

"Alright, alright I give. Going further than this would be way to stressful, so I'll just pass you three for the hell of it." She announced almost jokingly, but they could all tell from the look in her eyes she was serious. Grins broke out on all three of their faces and before any of them could realize it Anko had her arm wrapped around Naruto's waist and was French kissing him fervently. A clear turquoise liquid leaked a bit out of their mouths but Anko's oddly longue tongue caught it. When she broke the kiss Naruto, gulped once and promptly fainted. Hinata was about to join him in the world of the unconscious until Anko grinned cheekily.

"Just had to give him the antidote to Benki-kun's poison. That stuff would have killed him in another hour" Anko said almost nonchalantly and this made Hinata's face go from cherry red to ghost white in a manner of milliseconds. The young Hyuuga promptly fainted, leaving only Sasuke to stare at their teacher with a raised eyebrow. He then shifted his attention to Naruto, who he always knew was strong. However, this was the first time he considered that the blonde may be stronger than him. He quickly eliminated that thought from his mind and went about attempting to wake them both up, per Anko's newest orders as their Sensei. Several minutes and a pack of smelling salts later, both Naruto and Hinata were awake with disgusted looks etched in both their faces. Naruto was noticeably tamer than earlier, which could be attributed to the fiery blush still staining his cheeks.

"Alright brats it looks like your mine for the foreseeable future, which means that starting now we will be working on your weaknesses. However, I still need to properly examine you little Hyuuga. Your willingness to assist in your team's plans and your ability with your eyes alone got you the pass but I still want to see how you spare in a fight. Given your attitude towards the blonde, I'll ask that you fight the Uchiha. No lethal moves both of you." Anko commanded, Hinata looked over to Naruto with fear in her eyes, but to her delight and chagrin he was still dumbstruck, unable to properly process things. Sasuke nodded to Anko and took his place standing a couple metres from her. Hinata nodded to herself and her Byakugan activated this time without any hand seal. She found once she warmed it up, a little activation and deactivation was a speedy process. Sasuke nodded to her in a single to start and they both rushed forward.

"Wha-?" Sasuke seemed to question as a palm immediately impacted with his forearm, sending shivers up his spine. He then realized that despite their years in classes together, he knew next to nothing about how the Hyuuga girl fought. And a few moments later he regretted this, as both his arms quickly lost most of their feeling. Hinata nodded to herself, internally happy that the "kid's glove" Gentle Fist was working. It was an old Hyuuga technique that numbed the skin instead of shutting off the Tenketsu. Any real adrenaline would easily reverse the effects, but for friendly sparring, it did its job of displaying clean hits.

"Sasuke, you can't use your arms for the rest of this spar." Anko called out and Sasuke nodded. He at least understood what would have happened if Hinata had been serious during those hits. He let his numb arms hang loosely and was quick to rush forward. Hinata stood her ground and her eyes widened as she was forced to sidestep a wide roundhouse that Sasuke followed up with a savage cut kick. The new unexpected speed caught her off guard and the girl found herself tumbling to the ground from the blow. Sasuke was upon her in an instant with a falling axe kick and her roll to the side just barely saved her.

"That's enough!" Anko called out and Sasuke nodded his head. He shook his arms and soon feeling returned. Hinata looked up, expecting a disappointed frown from her new sensei, but was met with sparkling violet eyes and a wide foxy grin.

"That was really great Hinata. All that training we did finally paid off eh?" Naruto said with a grin as he helped the Hyuuga girl to her feet. She nodded her head as a small smile tugged at her lips. She looked to Sasuke, who nodded with an approving smirk of his own. She then looked to Anko, who gave her a thumbs up and her eyes welled with happy tears. She then momentarily mused on her first meeting with her blonde-haired best friend.

Flashback!

"P-please leave me a-alone!" Hinata stuttered out through tears as three older boys surrounded her. Her mother had gone to get her some hot chocolate and the three boys had been bullying her about her eyes ever since. She attempted to run, but they only cornered her again a bit further into the brush.

"Not a chance, you freak!" The leader of the boys yelled before pushing her to the ground, before she could retort she felt a heavy impact against her cheek and her eyes widened. Her mind couldn't quite process that one of the boys had just slapped her across the face. Tears came flowing in waves as she curled up into a ball, the three started kicking at her with fervor and she continued to cry helplessly. Suddenly she heard a loud angry voice.

"What in the hell are you doing to her!?" A voice raged as a red blur appeared from seemingly nowhere in front of Hinata. She felt heat and looked up to see a boy her age with an indescribable aura of red around him. She could tell it wasn't chakra….'I-is this just his anger taking on physical form!?' she thought to herself as the boy's hair floated around his head. His aura was enough to send the three boy's packing and almost immediately it disappeared. He turned around and in her state, Hinata barely registered the blonde quickly pulling off his orange jacket and draping it over her shivering shoulders. He used the end of his overly-long scarf to wipe away all the tears on her face then wrapped the rest around her neck and face. She felt the blonde boy's warmth flood her system through the clothes and she looked up at him with wide, misty eyes. She was met with a wide grinning face and stunning violet eyes.

"Hiya there, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. You're going to be okay now, believe it!" Hinata felt a blush rise to her cheeks as she smiled in return and nodded her head.

Flashback Over!

"Alright you three. I don't believe in that whole D-rank missions thing. But I know Genin need money, so I've got a different proposition." Anko addressed the three with a wicked glint in her eye. All three gulped, but nodded their heads nonetheless. She smiled, seeing their responses and continued. "This here training ground will be your home for the next month. In that time, you will all live with me at the tower in the middle. You can make money by hunting the creatures of this forest and bringing me their corpses. Different beasts reap different levels of rewards. You should mostly be looking for animals who are overpopulating the area, or those that their bodies can be used for medicines. I've got all the records and reports in the tower and I expect all three of you to keep this place's environment intact. I won't be around to help you. Just leave the bodies in the designated area and overnight I'll collect them and leave the rewards in their place. See you in a month!" Anko said with a massive grin as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. All three Genin simply blinked in unison and very soon the reality set in.

"So how about we find that tower and get some rest?" Naruto asked the other two and both nodded before the team took off into the forest.

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	2. Chapter 2

Hey there everyone time to address some things I will also be addressing in my other stories, I have some world changes that I implement in all my stories, so unless otherwise stated they will be the norm. The most prominent one is the academy graduation age being bumped up to 14, another which you'll come to realize is I enhance the Naruto world's characters. Making everyone's base skill greater allows me to make all the fights more exciting, I will also play around with the skill of characters as I see fit to make new challenges. Now addressing the only concern beside my lack of proof-reading is the whole Anko antidote administration thing, if that scene made you uncomfortable and a little put off then I'd say it accomplished its goals just fine. You'll see in this fic that Anko's character will get a little bit of attention and I am purposefully portraying her as someone with little to no knowledge of proper social norms and Ideas like personal space. To her that was just some light-hearted teasing. But with all that cleared up I'd like to thank you all for your support and hope you enjoy this chapter I have cooked up for you. Still desperately in need of a Beta by the way, because my lazy ass isn't going to get any better at proof-reading haha. So without further ado let's get things going.

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"Well this is something…" Sasuke muttered as he and Hinata looked wide eyed at their blonde Teammate, who stood alone drenched in blood. All around him, the remains of some creature laid about, either torn beyond recognition or burnt to a crisp. The two had felt a massive killing intent and had rushed toward the scene. Finding their blonde teammate standing there with cloudy violet eyes wasn't high on the list of what they were expecting.

"Naruto, what happened?" Sasuke asked carefully as the two Genin approached the blonde. They could barely recognize his form, which was bathed in crimson from head to toe. The only feature that stood out from the red were those wide violet eyes. Hinata's heart nearly broke as they got closer and she saw the steady streams of tears leaking down his cheeks. Leaping forward, she couldn't stop her body from clutching the blonde tightly. Naruto simply collapsed into the Hyuuga's embrace as the two fell to their knees. In his mind, the events previous played through his mind over and over.

Flashback!

"Damnit it's only the second god damned day!" Naruto shouted in annoyance as the massive wolf gnashed its jaws. The blonde scanned the tree line and found that they were also littered with more beasts than he could count. Anko had written that the wolves were not to be exterminated on account of their alpha predator status. Without them, there would be problems, Naruto knew that much. He figured if they took the one in front of him out, the rest would retreat, seeing as the massive beast facing him held all the trappings of a leader. Its thick hide was littered with more scars than Naruto could count, but those did nothing to hide the great powerful muscles beneath that skin.

"Grooooh!" The beast called as it lunged forward at great speeds. Naruto was barely able to leap to the side out of the way of the wolf's jaws. Said jaw's had just snapped a tree 5 times the width of Naruto in half so the blonde thought it would be best not to get in their way. Forming a group of clones, Naruto had them launch him high above in the air. The wolf set about annihilating the small group of copies. Meanwhile, Naruto flashed through hand seals from high up in the air.

"Chakra Chains: Pierce! "Naruto called out. He opted out of the full name as he was already free falling at an alarming rate. The five chains he set loose from his palm dug into different parts of the Wolf and pinned it to the ground. However unknown to Naruto, the one aimed for its head was dodged at last second. It did, however, catch a good bit of skin so to the tired blonde, it appeared to be a successful shot. Naruto landed on the wolf's back and set about reeling his chains back in to regain some of the chakra used in the technique. He was so focused on the chains that he missed the smaller shape of a wolf pup shooting from the undergrowth. Naruto's instinct's kicked in a second too late as the pup, which was still well above his waist on all fours, sunk its jaws into his midsection. The whole world went fuzzy for the blonde, as the wild animal cleanly ripped half of his torso off. Violet eyes went dim as the blonde fell to the ground.

'So… it's come to this so soon.' The Nine-tailed fox mulled to itself as it gazed down at its jailer. A wide and sinister grin spread across the fox's face, seeing the blonde's dying form. With a great growl of effort, the fox pushed all the chakra he could to into Naruto's weakened body. The dying form greedily accepted a full two tail's worth of chakra before the damned Fourth Hokage's seal shut off the flow. Grumbling to itself over the failed escape attempt, the fox resolved to let his jailer use the power to survive. Dying at this point in time would prove detrimental to his overall plans.

"Grooooooooooh!"Naruto howled in a bubbly demonic tone that matched his new appearance. The gap in his side closed rapidly more and more red chakra surged from the seal on his stomach. Several moments passed and finally the blonde was garbed in a thick chakra cloak, two tails of chakra extended from the rear of the cloak. What proceeded was a blind, bloody massacre that the real Naruto had no control over. He simply had to watch it all happen as if he didn't have total control of his actions.

Flashback Done!

"Naruto, it's okay. Just get some rest okay?" The Hyuuga girl whispered gently, her usual shyness around her close friend was far overshadowed by her concern for the blonde in that moment. Naruto's foggy eyes matched her gaze before fluttering closed. Several moments passed and Sasuke then decided it was time to intervene.

"Hinata, I'll carry him. You run ahead and run a bath." Sasuke said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. He may not have known the blonde that well, outside of their rivalry, he had only interacted with the brash boy a couple times. But those eyes, they reminded him of his own when he awoke from Itachi's Tsukuyomi. Hinata clearly wasn't clear enough in the head to deal with things calmly, so he decided to take control of things until they could find out what happened.

"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you in a bit." Sasuke said a bit more forcefully and the girl nodded slightly. She passed of Naruto's sleeping form to Sasuke, who lifted the blonde up in his arms. The odd posing would have made him embarrassed in any other situation, but now was not the time for such things. Hinata took one last glance at the blonde before jumping off toward the tower, a few moments passed and Sasuke laid the blonde back down. He began wandering around the scene and mostly he found bloody fur chunks and a whole lot of piles of ash. Based on the putrid smell, it was most definitely burnt flesh. He was about to pick the blonde back up when he saw a reflective surface hiding inside a pile of ash.

"No way… what happened here Naruto?" Sasuke muttered to himself as he found a metal plate, brandishing the symbol of the hidden leaf village. The same kind of plate that adorned the headband he currently wore. He looked back to Naruto and seeing the blonde's troubled sleeping expression, his curiosity and worry only seemed to increase. Opting to simply talk it over with his teammates, he picked the blonde back up and ran off toward the tower. Making sure not the jostle his passenger too much.

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"So…..what happened?" Sasuke questioned as he sat, facing his violet eyed teammate. Naruto sat on the opposite couch in the scraps of what had once been his clothes. Hinata was right next to him, resting a hand on his own. A blush threatened to cover the Hyuuga girl's troubled expression, but she had to stay strong for Naruto, so she suppressed the urge to faint.

"I was hoping this wouldn't come up for a while, but I don't want to risk your guy's safety. So I'll tell you about one of the villages biggest secrets, even if it is known by the majority of the village residents." Naruto said with a shaky voice. Hinata gave his hand a quick squeeze and he seemed to calm down a bit, at least enough to continue speaking. Sasuke's curiosity reached its peak as he leaned in closer, as not to miss a single shred of information.

"First, I should tell you guy's about my mother's clan, the Uzumaki. You guy's probably don't know it, but before our parents time, there was another well-known village in the elemental nations. They lived on a large island off the coast of Fire country in the Land of Whirlpools. They were known as the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools. No ninja except Uzumaki and their spouses would be allowed to live within the village and they flourished due to their unnaturally long life spans and chakra reserves. They were considered masters of sealing arts and invented many non-elemental techniques, since their massive chakra reserves made elemental jutsu much more difficult. My mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki and she was sent from Hidden Whirlpool to the Hidden Leaf. Unfortunately, shortly after she came here, the Hidden Villages of Cloud and Stone joined forces and invaded. The entire Uzumaki clan Village was annihilated and the remaining Uzumaki's out in the field were hunted down and killed. As far as I know, my mother was the only one protected due to her citizenship in the hidden leaf." Naruto said and he took in a deep breath the steady his breathing. He had talked about all this with Kakashi when the man had given him what Uzumaki scrolls his mother had left him. The story still shook the blonde up some, but he was sure the next part would be much more painful. Meanwhile Sasuke's eyes were widened in surprise hearing the story of his teammate's mother. This Uzumaki clan took two entire Hidden Villages to destroy. However, he was never admit that they stood a chance against the majesty of the Uchiha clan, his pride simply wouldn't allow it.

"N-Naruto was that what happened back there? One of your clan's techniques?" Hinata questioned and this captured Sasuke's attention. However, Naruto shook his head with a sad smile on his face. Both could tell his story had only begun.

"No, I'm afraid not. I would much prefer that to the truth actually. I guess I could of passed it off as that, but I can't put you guy's in anymore danger by keeping you in the dark. Big bro said that I should try to tell you guys about this as soon as possible, seeing as we'll be a team together for the foreseeable future." Naruto took a deep breath as he held a half tiger seal. Soon an ornate black seal appeared on his stomach. "This, right here, is the seal holding the Nine Tailed Fox. And this," Naruto pointed to himself. "Is the container of the Nine Tailed Fox" The blonde tried to grin sheepishly, but it just ended up looking extremely nervous and scared.

"B-But we were taught that the Fourth Hokage killed the Nine Tail's all those years ago?.." Hinata said in a tone that didn't disbelieve Naruto, but was completely confused and bewildered. Naruto held up his hand to silence further protests so he could continue.

"Well he did defeat it, after it escaped its previous container, which so happened to be my mother. He used a self-sacrificing technique to Seal the Nine Tail's and himself into the Death God's stomach. However, the Fox was much more powerful than he could imagine, so he split its chakras into their Yin and Yang halves. He took the Yang half and it's physical form with him to the Death god's stomach and sealed the Yin half in a newborn baby… you guys can see where this is going. My mother had been killed when the Nine Tail's escaped her, so I was the only Uzumaki left in the village, Uzumaki's are the only ones capable of holding the Nine Tail's since it's the strongest Tailed Beast. Our powerful life forces and large chakra reserves allow us to hold back its amazing strength. So shortly after the whole ordeal, the Third Hokage decided to make a law against even mentioning my….burden. That's why your parents could never tell you about it and why the adults of the village dislike me and choose to ignore me." Naruto finished and a few tears slipped from his shimmering eyes. Hinata and Sasuke both took a couple minutes to absorb all the information and finally Sasuke was the first one to bounce back.

"So back in the forest, what was that? Did it get loose for a bit?" Sasuke said with a slight amount of apprehension staining his voice. Naruto was hurt, but he understood the caution of the Uchiha.

"Well sort of. Trust me this seal is solid. But.. I kind of… sort of, died….." Naruto said before trailing off, he was quickly able to bounce back though. "Well near death more like it. So in that state the seal allowed enough of the Nine Tail's chakra to come out and save my life. The second the injury was fully healed and my emotions calmed down the power was cut off again, and even near death I was only able to access two of the nine tails of power. Don't worry, Kakashi told me this seal was the Fourth Hokage's masterwork." Naruto finished quickly as a fearful expression once again took hold of his face. Sasuke seemed to think a minute before an angry expression took hold of his features.

"So you're telling me every time you're in trouble you get access to an unlimited chakra source?" Sasuke asked a little more harshly than he intended and the effect of the statement was immediately evident in Naruto's expression. The blonde's eyes went dim and he seemed to draw in on himself. Sasuke felt an apology forming in his mind but Naruto's response took him too much off guard.

"Trust me Sasuke, I would never want to use that power to save myself. It's far from worth it. I couldn't even control my actions. I just had to watch what happened through hazy red eyes. I couldn't even feel my own emotions or body. I know they were my actions, but looking back on it, it was all just a haze of bloodlust that I don't ever want to experience again." Naruto said as tears fell down his face. Sasuke met gazes with the blonde and once again he saw those eyes. Those of the tormented. But he still had to play devil's advocate for more information.

"Be that as it may, how can we be sure that the Fox's power won't take hold again and try to kill us?" Sasuke asked severely. "Sasuke!" Hinata yelled with an anger in her voice that both boy's momentarily gawked at. However Naruto was the one who was first to respond properly.

"Sasuke, Hinata, I would kill myself before I let that fox hurt either of you. You're my teammates, and I hope you'll be my friends as well. Even after hearing all this." Naruto said, his fear was shattered with that statement, his violet eyes were solid and strong. The fire had returned to them and Sasuke grinned seeing that. He nodded to Naruto, accepting the blonde's statement and Hinata was quick to wrap her arms around the blonde and begin crying. She had been holding back the whole time and seeing her friend back to himself allowed her to finally stop being strong. Naruto smiled warmly and held the weeping Hyuuga Princess. He also cried a bit. It finally looked like he had friends.

"Thank you, both of you." Naruto said with a smile so bright that Sasuke had to look away a bit. He thought about the Hidden Leaf Headband he had found and its location in his pocket. The Uchiha winced as the softer side of him won out. He would throw it away the next chance he got. If Naruto didn't remember then there was no point in making him any more distressed.

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"Naruto, what's the kill count for today?" Hinata questioned as she regarded the massive pile of the bodies the blonde had just finished dragging into the building with the help of his clones. Though one could easily tell the pile only consisted of about a dozen individual bodies, the individual bodies were just that massive. The Hyuuga girl was no longer garbed in her regular clothes and was now dressed in what looked like spare training gear. Naruto himself had also been forced to change into the clothes Anko had left for them. After the first week, all three members of Team 7 could no longer call their original outfit's clothes, more like scraps of cloth that kept their modesty intact. So with Hinata as the leader of their cause, the three had embarked on an expedition in the massive building to find some new clothes, thankfully Anko had left a large pile of neatly folded clothes in all sizes for them.

"We've got 6 Tigers, 3 centipedes, and finally 4 Slugs." Naruto listed off and Hinata marked some things off on her notepad and then walked out of the large room. Naruto looked around the massive room that was clearly a combat arena of some sort. They had been holed up in here for three weeks already and he had grown used to the place, hunting would take up half of his day most days. As for his team mates, Hinata was always the first one back with her quota for the day on account of her Byakugan and he usually made it back second with the help of his clones. Just as he thought on Sasuke, the massive doors to the tower opened, revealing an Uchiha dragging a massive net filled with all manner of dead creatures, most of which were charred beyond recognition.

"Hinata I got that Den of Badgers, they won't be causing any more trouble." Sasuke yelled as he laid his bag next to Naruto's pile. The Uchiha matched gazes with the blonde and both let small grins grace their features as they both took their combat stances. Ever since the day Naruto had opened up to them, the boy's had taken to sparring daily as a sort of competition. In the academy, Sasuke had soundly won Rookie of the year, but now that Naruto was using his clan's jutsu, the two were more or less even in combat strength. Before the two could leap at each other, Hinata ran down the steps near the arena with an excited look in her eyes.

"You two, we have a visitor!" Hinata said happily as she ran back up in the steps. In the three weeks since they arrived, Hinata had grown to be comfortable around both Naruto and Sasuke. Now the only signs of her stutter and blush were when Naruto was within a metre of her body. Or when the blonde paid her a compliment. The two boy's followed after the Hyuuga Princess and when they arrived in the lounge that they used as their base of operations, both were surprised by the new guest. Kakashi eye smiled as Naruto rushed him with a suffocating hug.

"Come to see how awesome I am bro?" Naruto questioned and Kakashi replied by carefully removing the blonde from his side and standing up. He scanned all three and even without his Sharingan. He could tell that these last three weeks had done wonders to hone their bodies and chakra. They oozed a self-assuredness that the Jonin didn't see in a lot of chuunin these days, but he had business to get too.

"Well you see, Anko says that she has a way for you three to get out of this forest and into real missions early." Kakashi said with a teasing eye-smile. All three were immediately on guard, as the last "gift' Anko had left them was a perfume of Insect pheromones. The three had ended up fighting away the advances of Giant Creepy Crawlies for three days straight. So with healthy caution they gave Kakashi a nod to continue his spiel.

"She said if you three could beat another Genin team in a three on three match then she would let you out of here early." Kakashi said and almost as if on cue, one of the doors to the lounge opened and in walked a group of three teenagers roughly a year their senior. They consisted of Hinata's cousin, Neji Hyuuga, last year's rookie of the year as well as Hinata's assigned personal guard from the Hyuuga Branch Family. The boy wore a simple Hyuuga garb, consisting of a slightly loose khaki top paired with dark brown shorts, his Hidden Leaf Headband was displayed proudly on his forehead. Next, was a cute girl who wore a Chinese style top paired with slightly loose pants. Her hair was styled in two tight buns and her Headband was also displayed proudly on her forehead. Finally, the one who had sprinted up to Sasuke was a very odd looking individual. The boy's hair was cut in a sharp bowl cut and his eyebrows were just about the bushiest anyone could imagine. He finished off his bizarre look by sporting a horrendous green jumpsuit as well as thick woolly orange leg warmers. His leaf headband was fashioned unto a belt that wrapped around his waist.

"This here is Team Gai. Their sensei is a good friend of mine so he gave permission to let them come here to face you three. She gave specific instructions that this would consist of three one versus one battles. The matches will be as follows: Sasuke verses Lee, Hinata versus TenTen, and Naruto versus Neji. You guys are in, I assume?" Kakashi asked with a look that said he absolutely knew the answer already. All three nodded with fierce looks in their eyes, regarding their opponents. Getting out of this forest was all they could keep their minds on. However before things got underway, Kakashi saw fit to let introductions take place.

"Well I'm TenTen, nice to meet you three. I apologize in advance Hinata. If I even think of going easy on you, Kakashi will tell my sensei and I'll be sure to regret it. TenTen said kindly before sticking her tongue out in a cute and silly way. Hinata giggled into her hand and shook TenTen's hand. Meanwhile things were going considerably worse with Naruto and Neji.

"What the hell did you say, jackass?" Naruto asked with a burning fire behind him violet eyes. The Hyuuga boy stoically ignored his outburst and he proceeded to repeat himself.

"As I said, I'm appalled at the thought of even expending effort to destroy you. Please just save us both the trouble and concede defeat in advance." Neji said while maintaining a perfectly level voice. Naruto seemed about ready to burst, but a look from Kakashi stayed his hand for the time being.

"I wish to fight you Sasuke!" Lee shouted with exuberance and Sasuke accepted the challenge with a slightly annoyed expression. 'All things considered, that went smoother than expected' Kakashi thought as he led the six children down to the arena.

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"TenTen, Hinata, are you two ready?" After a quick cleanup, the massive arena hosted within the tower was ready for any type of combat thanks to its massive size and strong concrete walls. TenTen and Hinata nodded to Kakashi and he quickly lowered his hand in a signal to begin. Immediately, TenTen was backpedalling with Hinata in pursuit. One thing the Hyuuga girl had learned in her time here was that she had a great advantage in taking the initiative. This proved true again as TenTen let loose a flurry of shuriken to halt the Hyuuga's pursuit. Stopped in her tracks, Hinata let loose a fistful of shuriken to keep TenTen on her feet. In response, the girl deftly plucked them from the air without batting an eye, making Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. Realizing the danger her opponent presented, she was quick to channel chakra into her eyes and within a thought the Byakugan was activated.

"Woah, Bro I thought you had to be awesome like a Jonin to be that fast." Naruto stated as he spectated the fight along the rest of the Genin. Kakashi had taken to standing beside them to keep out of range of TenTen's weapons. His move proved wrong as they all leaned to the side to dodge a stray kunai.

"Well Naruto, TenTen is what you call a weapon specialist. She has trained her whole career so far in the handling of weapons and their many uses. This makes it easy for her to counter any weapon thrown her way with practiced ease. She's rather interesting in my opinion" Kakashi stated with obvious respect in his voice. It wasn't often a Ninja ditched all the flashy jutsu available in favour of things far more complicated, but just as deadly.

"8 Trigrams 32 Palms!" Hinata called as a storm of different weapons approached her. TenTen had flung everything from a kunai to a Warhammer toward her and the Hyuuga needed to gain some ground instead of simply dodge. Taking the traditional stance Hinata surged forward with new speed.

"Two palms" She muttered batting two katana aside, her chakra coated hands immune to the sharp blades glancing along her skin.

"Four Palms" a battle fan, another sword, and two kunai were sent flying to the side. Hinata was quickly advancing toward TenTen.

"Eight Palms" A tightly grouped division of Shuriken were all sent off in separate directions. TenTen could now see Hinata clearly and the Hyuuga's speed was proving too fast for her to get away from.

"Sixteen Palms" The last of TenTen's barrage were all blown to the side as Hinata took a final mad dash, arriving at TenTen she finally said.

"Thirty Two Palms!" TenTen's body was run ragged by a rapid barrage. The last hit to her chest sent her flying back, only for a Warhammer to crash to the ground shattered all over. Hinata's eyes widened as her vision refocused on the 360 degrees around her. She had been so pressed to looking forward, she had neglected the rest of her sight. TenTen was currently standing behind her with a sickle placed gently along her neck.

"I concede" Hinata said with finality and TenTen smiled happily before taking the sickle away from the poor girls throat. Turning around, Hinata was surprised to be met with a fierce hug from the older girl.

"Oh Hinata, you did so well. You were just as scary as Neji for a second there. Just between you and me, I don't even think he was that fast when he was your age. Plus, I've never seen him use that technique in a dead sprint. You're something special!" TenTen cheered happily and Hinata felt some of her insecurity melt away at her fellow Genin's praise. Bowing politely in response to the girl, Hinata followed her back up to Kakashi who was standing at his original position.

"The winner is TenTen, good job you two." Kakashi said with an eye-smile and both girl's bowed to him before heading up to the observation area. Sasuke and Lee both leapt over the bar and were standing opposite each other before Kakashi could say either of their names. An eager look was etched into both their features. Kakashi didn't even need to ask, he simply lowered his arm and in an explosion of chakra-enhanced movement, both boys were set in an immediate deadlock. Sasuke's leg was being kept at boy by Lee's own shin, while Sasuke was holding Lee's wrist. Stopping it from continuing a left hook. Sasuke felt Lee's incredible strength as the green clad Genin broke his grip and leapt back before taking his stance. Sasuke seeing the boy's incredible speed and power opted out of a straight Taijutsu bout for now. He pulled out two fistfuls of shuriken and let them loose toward the bushy browed teen. Lee was easily able to weave between the shuriken, just as Sasuke expected. Thankfully Sasuke was given enough time to speed through a set of hand seals.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" The Uchiha called before sending a barrage of fireballs toward his opponent. The Uchiha used the cover offered by the fireballs to get to work on his next move. Meanwhile Lee was literally feeling the heat. He was narrowly dodging the series of speeding fireballs while keeping an eye on Sasuke, who seemed to be preparing something. Finally, as the last and weakest fireball whizzed past his head, Lee charged toward Sasuke who seemed to panic and leap back while throwing another group of shuriken. Lee was ready to weave through the shuriken, but his eyes caught sight of an odd reflection between the shuriken. Realizing the thin ninja wire, he leapt high into the air above the shuriken. Sasuke saw this and pouted slightly at his failed tactic. Seeing his opponent's new vulnerable state, he timed his jump right as to catch Lee off balance. Finally his eyes locked on to the right position and Sasuke leapt toward Lee. He had his right hand ready for a heavy haymaker.

"Not so fast!" Lee yelled as he suddenly whipped his foot around. His weight shifted in such a way that Sasuke's punch whizzed by his shoulder. Suddenly, Sasuke felt Lee slam several heavy kicks onto his sides before sending the Uchiha to the ground with a heavy axe kick. Sasuke hit the ground hard and Kakashi, seeing Sasuke's dazed expression, called the fight in Lee's favour. The green clad could have finished Sasuke off with that last kick and Kakashi knew it. Sasuke seemed disgruntled, but his dazed state didn't let him stop Lee from carrying him back up to the spectators stand.

"Lee Wins! Good show boys." Kakashi said and he watched as both Naruto and Neji walked down to the steps. Inside Naruto's head, a frenzy was going on. He knew Neji was last year's Rookie of the year, but he had just watched Lee wreck Sasuke. If Neji was stronger than that, what could he do? Though just as fast as his doubt had come, it disappeared with a surge of confidence. If he fought hard enough, he could win, and he knew it. Though he had to say these three had ended up much stronger than he had expected.

"Kakashi-sensei, we already won two out of the three fights. What's the point in this if we already won?" Neji questioned and before Naruto could erupt in anger Kakashi's eyes crinkled up into a smile.

"Well you see Neji, Anko actually said they only needed to win one of the three matches to get out of here. So there's still a chance for Naruto to win this for them." As Kakashi finished Naruto felt a new weight on his shoulders. He had already conceded their overall loss. He had only been walking down those steps to prove Neji wrong. But now there was actually something at risk. Neji looked to the blonde, expecting a nervous look much like one his younger cousin would give. What he was met with was a fiery and determined expression unlike any he had seen before. Unwavering confidence and bravery was held in those violet eyes.

"Well it seems you intend to carry this on then. Very well, I will put you in your place with my full strength!" Neji finished as his Byakugan activated. Naruto grinned and simply stood there facing the Hyuuga. He couldn't let himself lose here. Kakashi saw this and grinned as he lowered his arm.

"Begin!"

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Well how'd you all like it? See ya next time!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone it's been a little bit but I got back into Dark Souls so oops haha, anyway I'd like to introduce the new beta for this story gio08. I've replaced the previous chapters with his edited versions and from now on all chapters posted with be properly beta'd. So you can thank him for making this a much less painful thing to read haha. From now, on I hope you'll be able to enjoy my story a lot more thanks to his help. Thanks for all the support once again and let's get on with it!

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"Begin!" Kakashi lowered his hand and in a burst of violent movement, Neji had surged forward toward Naruto. The blonde's eyes glinted with fiery determination as he side-stepped the attack and kicked the Hyuuga's arm up toward the air with a violent impact. Neji shot his other hand out at the offending leg, only for a clone to poof into existence and take the hit. Naruto jumped back and formed the shadow clone hand seal. Two appeared and jumped at Neji as the blonde gained more distance. He threw two separate barrages of shuriken at different heights as he retreated. Neji disposed of the two clones using a split kick that placed him above the first barrage of shuriken. The second barrage just passed over his body as he went horizontal in mid-air. The Hyuuga landed with a feline grace and rushed toward Naruto, who was standing, surrounded by Makibishi spikes. He pulled back his palm and a swirl of chakra encircled his whole arm.

" **Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"** Neji shouted and a powerful blast of wind sent all of the spikes flying back. Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke when several impacted him and Neji swore to himself, his Byakugan easily locating the two blonde's falling from above. Pivoting at the last second, the Hyuuga prodigy dodged the twin axe kicks and managed to land palm attacks on both Naruto's. Both disappeared in clouds of smoke and he easily dodged the straight punch from behind by shifting his head. He had seen Naruto transform into one of the spikes right when his air palm hit. Naruto paid for this when Neji easily landed a spinning back kick that sent the blonde flying as a blast of chakra enhanced the kick. Naruto landed and was quick to roll away from a barrage of shuriken, unfortunately, this led the blonde straight into Neji's path as he took an odd stance.

" **Eight Trigrams 32 Palms!"** Neji shouted and he moved with a speed and ferocity Naruto had never seen from Hinata's attack. The second before the first impact, Naruto held a half tiger seal and shoved his hand in his pocket.

"Two Palms" Neji shouted and the relentless barrage began.

"Four Palms"

"Eight Palms"

"Sixteen Palms" Neji's hands were moving so fast it couldn't even be compared to Hinata's technique. TenTen's eyes widened as she had never seen this kind of ferocity from Neji before.

"Thirty Two Palms!" Neji finished the attack in mere seconds and Naruto was sent flying into a wall. When he impacted, it was obvious he wasn't a clone. Neji eased his stance and turned around.

"Kakashi-sensei, please call the match. It'll be sixty four next time and I can't promise he'll survive that." Neji said with a scoff, but when Kakashi shook his head, he shifted his gaze back to the blonde. To his amazement, he was still standing. The blonde's hand came out of his pocket and it revealed a slim golden chain that was protruding from the palm of his hand.

"I barely had time to make this one, Neji. Good thing I practiced making a small one fast. Now I think it's time for round two" Naruto said with a grin. Neji's Byakugan reactivated and he was stunned by the amount of chakra stored in the small chain. It was enough to fill half of an average Genin's reserves. The chain drained back into Naruto's palm and Neji watched as the chakra snaked through his system and reopened all the chakra points. A common technique for healing after a Hyuuga's beating is to have someone insert chakra into the afflicted person's body, the chakra has to go through all the chakra gates to become part of the proper flow. This leads it through all of the chakra points and allows the points to reopen, since the chakra needed to push through the points is a pretty large amount. It's not suitable for combat situations, though. Neji swore and suddenly something clicked in his mind.

"Small one?" Neji said out loud, wondering what the blonde was walking about. He surely only had enough chakra for another one or two of those small chains, but then Neji watched as the blonde formed a tiger seal. Violent blue chakra surged forth from his gates and Neji couldn't believe what he was seeing. Several Jonin's worth of chakra surged up around the blonde and it seemed like he may still have more in reserve.

"You know, when Sasuke and I would spar, Hinata said I would hurt her eyes with my chakra. So she taught me how to limit my chakra output as a control exercise. I've been putting a good bit of effort into limiting it so I could surprise you. Now I can let loose!" Naruto said with a grin. Neji swore at himself again. The blonde had been using shadow clones after all. It only reasoned he had more chakra than a Genin's. He had no time to mull on his mistakes however, as the blonde formed the odd shadow clone seal. Thirty clones popped into existence and rushed the Hyuuga as Naruto flashed through hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground. Neji absentmindedly dealt the clones swift deaths as he watched five slow moving chains of chakra surge through the ground and form a perimeter around him. All five burst from the ground and dove toward the Hyuuga. The second they broke the surface, he was forced to deactivate his Byakugan due to the brightness, so he was forced to keep swiveling his head around in order to dodge clones and chains. He ducked under a clone's tackle and his eyes widened seeing one preparing an uppercut. He just barely rolled out of the way but this allowed one of the chains to wrap around his leg. Neji felt a good tenth of his chakra ebb away in seconds, then he started spinning.

"Dammit, I didn't wrap him up enough to cut off his connection to his chakra." Naruto swore as Neji became a ball of blue chakra that was rotating rapidly. His chain was broken off and Naruto drew in all the chains as Neji's rotation ended. As Naruto reabsorbed his chakra, he didn't notice Neji use his spinning momentum to shoot toward the blonde. Naruto's eyes widened just as the elder Genin's knee impacted with Naruto's face. The blonde was about to be sent flying when Neji grabbed his arm and thrust his other palm toward the blonde's chest.

"NO!" Hinata shouted in panic, tears sprung to her eyes seeing that Neji was going to explode Naruto's heart. However in an instant, Kakashi was holding the ravenous Hyuuga boy's wrist. Naruto fell to the ground like a gaping fish as the Hyuuga quickly schooled himself and looked down at the blonde. Kakashi scratched the back of his neck nervously as he looked away from Naruto.

"Neji Hyuuga is the winner. Sorry Naruto, but it was clear this was a kill shot you weren't going to get out of. I'll just assume that's why you went for it Neji." Kakashi said with a threatening tone as he regarded the Hyuuga, who calmed his expression and nodded. Naruto swore and was about to start yelling when a crying Hinata tackled him.

"You're okay!" She shouted as she cried into the blonde's chest. Naruto felt his rage ebb away as he patted the poor girls head. She always took things too seriously. Then she did something Naruto would never have expected. She wiped her tears and stood up, facing her cousin.

"Neji, you were going for a kill shot and I don't believe you knew Kakashi was going to intervene. But that doesn't matter. What you did was way out of line and I want you to apologize to him." She said sternly. Neji also seemed to be taken aback by that. He seemed ready to retort with anger, but Kakashi leveled him with a glare that told him not to.

"I apologize, Naruto. I may have gotten too intense in our battle and put more power into my strikes than necessary. It won't happen again, Lady Hinata." Neji said with a clear undertone of anger in his voice. However, Hinata seemed satisfied, so nobody said anything. She then continued to dote on Naruto, who could only blush and brush off her concerns. Kakashi smiled seeing that everything had worked out properly, even if the three would have to spend the rest of their month in this place.

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"Dammit!" Naruto shouted as his fist impacted with a tree, the bark of which was already torn to shreds. Fresh blood was also caked over the tree which could be attributed to the furious blonde's bleeding knuckles. Hinata watched for a few seconds as her friend mercilessly pounded away at the tree. Team Gai had left yesterday and ever since, Naruto had been doing nothing but training. Well, this couldn't be called training, it was more venting for the enraged blonde. Hinata steeled her resolve and walked up to Naruto, who upon noticing her, quickly hid his hands behind his back and plastered a grin on his features. However, seeing the Hyuuga girl's expression, he quickly dropped the façade and met Hinata's eyes with a very subdued smile.

"Show me your hands." She ordered as a blush crept into her features. Naruto seemed ready to resist, but a firm look from Hinata convinced him to reach out his hands. Hinata, with calm and gentle movements, quickly withdrew an odd salve and several bandages. She seemed well practiced at dressing the Uzumaki's wounds.

"You know, this reminds me of when we were kids." Hinata said with a small happy smile tugging at her expression. Naruto seemed confused and Hinata giggled, seeing she needed to elaborate.

"You would always fight the kids that made fun of my eyes, but half the time they just ended up beating you up. I remember all the times I had to treat your wounds while I tried not to cry too much." Hinata said with a small giggle at her young self's complete lack of social skills. Naruto had sure helped her leaps and bounds in that regard, and the event yesterday had given her some real headway in interacting with her friend. Poor Hinata did not realize her entire face was cherry red as she reminisced about the past. Naruto didn't either, as the girl's smile had caught him off guard and he was now looking away awkwardly, trying not to let his blush show.

"Hey Hinata, have you been growing your hair out?" Naruto asked and only then did Hinata come out of her reverie. Blushing at the blonde's compliment, she mused that she had been due for a haircut for quite a while. Her hair was now reaching her shoulders and her bangs were hanging lower than she had ever had them before. They at least would need a trim when they got out of the forest.

"I could cut it for you." Sasuke said as he walked up to the two. Both looked at him quizzically and the Uchiha responded by looking off into the distance and grunting in a somewhat embarrassed fashion. "Uchiha don't trust those outside of the family having sharp things near their necks. I picked up the skills from my mom, and looking in the supply closet, it looks like Anko had everything we need here." Sasuke finished with a clear blush now on his cheeks. Hinata smiled toward the Uchiha and Naruto held back his chuckle at his teammate's expense.

"That would be lovely Sasuke." Hinata said with a smile and the Uchiha nodded. Seeing Hinata was done bandaging him up, Naruto moved forward and led his teammates back to the tower.

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"Is this the chakra control you've been working with!?" Sasuke questioned incredulously as he watched the blonde blow another leaf away from his forehead. He had been prepared for the blonde not to know tree climbing, but this was something else. He looked to Hinata and she shrugged.

"Naruto only recently got the hang of the leaf sticking exercise, leaf floating is something he hasn't been able to do yet. Sasuke face-palmed once again as the next leaf was simply eradicated from the excess chakra.

"Damn, now that I know this, it's pretty obvious that with proper chakra control, those chains of yours would be a much deadlier technique. You probably wouldn't have to be stationary using them anymore if you got to the water walking level." Sasuke mused. Hinata watched and silently played with her hair. Sasuke had ended up doing a pretty good job. The Hyuuga girl now had her hair tied in a hanging ponytail with a small orange ribbon. Her bangs were mostly cut to just above her eyebrows where they usually were, but now two sets of longer bangs were framing her face. The entire team had ramped up their training since their humiliating defeat at the hands of Team Gai. However, the revelation over Naruto's complete lack of chakra control had put quite a monkey wrench in Sasuke's plans. Not to mention that he wasn't well versed in any expert training methods. As if on cue to his thoughts, a familiar presence appeared in one of the many doorways to the tower.

"Hey guys, Anko asked me to come and help you guys with your training a bit." Iruka said with a kind smile. Before he could continue, he was met with a hug from Naruto, who was overjoyed to see his favourite teacher. Hinata and Sasuke both walked up and greeted the man in more civil ways by the time Naruto had finally let go of the man. Almost immediately, Iruka took on the air of a teacher once again and they felt like they should have been sitting at desks.

"Alright you three, by the time you're out of here, Anko expects C-Rank missions of you all. So that's what she's going to get." Iruka said resolutely. His determination was most certainly not a result of the crush he had harboured for her since their days in the academy. All three youths felt sweat break out at the implication that came along with Iruka's determination. They knew for some reason, rest would not be attained until the far future.

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"What are we doing Sensei?" Sasuke questioned as he and the academy instructor watched both Naruto and Hinata. The two were currently cooking up supper for the four of them. Usually they would all work together, but this time Iruka had made Sasuke come with him.

"Sasuke, all throughout the academy, I made an honest effort to help these two get together. But now that they're out of the academy, I will pass down that responsibility to you!" Iruka said to the Uchiha, who had the largest sweat drop forming. However, seeing the look in Iruka's eyes, Sasuke couldn't help but to take him a bit seriously.

"Hinata is too shy to confess to Naruto and usually it wouldn't be a concern for us, but…." Iruka trailed off for a moment and he seemed to gain a small sense of melancholy about him. "People die in this ninja world all the time, and I'm afraid by the time she finally gets the nerve, it will be too late. So for their sake, I want you to set up as many potential romantic scenarios as possible." Iruka said with a big thumbs up, and the levity of the situation returned. But Sasuke was sure to take note of the clear seriousness in the man's intention.

"Alright Sensei. I guess it would give me some alone time at least." Sasuke said with a small blush as he looked off to the side. Iruka grinned with a look similar to Lee's and Sasuke shivered. Both shifted their attention once again to Naruto and Hinata.

"Let me get that." Naruto said, seeing Hinata was having trouble reaching up for a plate with several other things in her arms. He reached up from behind the Hyuuga princess and Hinata's face erupted into a blush when she felt him press against her back. Naruto smiled kindly and handed her the plate. Hinata could do no more than blush and nod her head in thanks.

"It looks like without real pressure, Hinata is still Hinata." Sasuke mumbled. He had thought this would be easy, seeing Hinata the other day talking to the blonde easily. But when faced with those big violet orbs in a calm setting, she was as helpless as ever. However both he and Iruka were forced to focus once again, seeing Naruto was struggling to cut up vegetables evenly.

"I-I'll h-h-help you with that Naruto!" She said with some heavy panic in her voice. Iruka watched with wide eyes as she took Naruto's hands and started guiding him through the proper technique. Despite her near nuclear levels of blush, the Hyuuga girl still flawlessly cut the vegetables with Naruto's hands. Looking to the blonde's features, Iruka felt a large grin break out across his face.

"T-thanks Hinata." Naruto said with a slight blush adorning his features. He didn't quite understand the feeling in his chest, but he was a bit sure the Hyuuga princess was the cause of it.

"Jackpot" Iruka whispered and Sasuke face-palmed. Was he the only serious one around here? But in reality, he allowed himself some happiness for his teammates… they really didn't look that bad together.

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"We're free!" Naruto shouted triumphantly as the three Genin followed Anko toward the village's shopping district.

"Now listen you brats. Taking care of that forest is usually assigned to several teams of career Genin, but since you three took it on yourselves, you shouldn't have to worry about money for a while. Buy as much clothes and equipment as you want because it's coming out of the village's wallet!" Anko said excitedly. All three Genin were excited to get out of the drab clothes, but one thing about her statement stuck to them.

"Career Genin? What's that Sensei?" Naruto asked, obviously curious about the odd title.

"Well, you see, they're people who have been Genin for a long time. Basically, they live the ninja lifestyle, but aren't skilled enough to ever become Chuunin. They actually make up about forty percent of our ninja force. Those of your class that got sent back to the academy will probably all end up being career Genin. But they help bolster the ninja ranks, so all villages have them." Anko said and all three Genin seemed a little downcast at the prospect of that. But Anko saw their expressions and leapt into speech once again.

"But don't worry you guys, I expect all three of you to become ass-kicking Chuunin at the very least. Good chance of Jonin too. I'll be sure to make all three of you into skilled murderers in your own right." Anko said with an awkward thumbs up and the three Genin all sweat-dropped, seeing her attitude. But it sure worked to alleviate a lot of the stress they felt hearing about career Genin.

"We'll all be sure to surpass you sensei!" Naruto said with a confident thumbs up. Anko even sweat-dropped at this, but before she could bully him for it, they arrived at the village's shopping district.

"Well, here ya go brats." Anko said as she passed all three of them wads of cash. These wads made even Hinata widen her eyes. They had certainly made more than she would have anticipated. "Remember, this is for your new clothes and equipment, and Sasuke, make sure Naruto doesn't go orange. Hinata I'll go with you. You're real shinobi now, so keep that in mind." Anko finished and Naruto was very ready to defend orange, but Sasuke was quick to drag him off, away from the two women.

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"Naruto, we should both pick weapons to use. If anything, just to counter those with weapons of their own." Sasuke said as he and Naruto stood in a quaint weapons shop, however once the two boys saw who was tending the counter, their eyes widened.

"TenTen?" Naruto nearly yelled and the girl almost fell over from the sudden surprise. She looked up at the two Genin her teammates had beaten and smiled kindly.

"Hey you two, it's been awhile." She said cheerily and both boys were surprised by her kind demeanor. "Say, I heard something about choosing weapons. Mind if I help?" She said with a glint in her eye and both boys felt as if they had just activated a device with no off switch.

"Well… that would be fine seeing as you're a weapons expert, any recommendations?" Sasuke asked calmly and the girl seemed to think for a moment before pepping up and rushing into the back of the store. She emerged with two objects bundled in her arms, the first she handed to Sasuke and the second she handed to Naruto.

"Sasuke, for you I got a Chokuto. Its style is slightly outdated, but I think it matches your style of combat. But I'd recommend when you're older slightly extending it, or you would have to alter your style. The sword is made from the highest quality chakra conducting iron from the Land of Iron. Pretty hard to get your hands on this stuff." TenTen finished as Sasuke analyzed the white sheath and handle. The blade gleamed with a dangerous edge and Sasuke grinned. "Oh and here are some scrolls to train yourself in the basic forms." TenTen said as she tossed a medium sized blue scroll to the Uchiha. Sasuke nodded his thanks as he got used to the weight of his new sword.

"And for you Naruto, I think a pair of hanbo is your best bet. Though, there is only one style that is known to employ dual wielding the things. They're actually made from wood the first Hokage made himself. In his lifetime, he created a special kind of tree stronger than any other and more chakra conductive than any other. The Hidden Leaf is the only one with access to these seeds and growing techniques of this tree, so you won't find these anywhere else in the world. Here's the scroll detailing the entire style. You might have trouble finding a proper sensei though. Oh, Sasuke, there are several swordsmen in the hidden leaf, so you might want to seek one out to attain proper mastery" TenTen said as she handed Naruto a scroll, only slightly larger than Sasuke's. Both boy's reached to their wallets and TenTen grinned with dollar signs in her eyes as she raked in quite a bit of cash for the quality weapons she had sold.

"Damn, looks like we're not going to have much left over now." Naruto whined as he and Sasuke exited the store. They had also bought a lot of kunai and shuriken, along with proper holsters for their weapons, so TenTen was practically salivating at the sum of money they left behind.

"Come on, we still have to get some proper clothes you know." Sasuke said as he trekked forth to the same place he always got his clothes. Mainly because he knew the place and because they had a shortage of any bright colours. Orange included.

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"Well boy's, don't you look sharp?" Anko teased, seeing the two boy's walk toward them. Sasuke wore black ANBU style pants tucked into medical tape that extended into his black ninja sandals. On his torso, he wore a long sleeved white V-neck under a black, high collared vest which represented the Uchiha crest proudly on its back. His Chokuto was hung along his lower back with a black leather chord that seemed sturdy enough. His shuriken pouch hung on his left hip by the chord while he brandished kunai holsters on both his thighs and both his biceps. Not to be outdone, Naruto wore Navy blue ANBU style pants that also tucked into white medical tape. His footwear however, instead of Ninja sandals, were a pair of black leather boots that clung tightly to his shins. Seemingly much thinner than a standard pair of combat boots. On his top, he wore a mesh armour long sleeve shirt under a Navy blue long sleeve jacket that had a slightly high collar on it. Both the jacket and pants however were decorated with thin orange stripes that ran along the sides of the pants and along the sleeves of the jacket, the interior of the jacket also seemed to be orange. Most importantly, the back had a large red swirl similar to those on Jonin vests. But Anko also knew this to be the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. He had a black chord on his waist, same as Sasuke, except his was connected to a second chord that hung in an opposite direction, making an x shape with the two belts. On his lower back rested a shuriken pouch while both his hips held black Hanbo that were held in place at an angle with the front end pointing up. His kunai pouch was held over white medical tape on his left thigh.

"Thanks Sensei, Ninja tailors sure aren't anything to scoff at. That lady was scary." Naruto shivered, remembering the angry old lady that had helped the two. Both he and the Uchiha had 10 sets of their new clothes each and it had only taken the hag an hour. She had treated Sasuke like he was her grandson or something though. He did giggle remembering Sasuke blush at the old woman's affections. He also had to thank the woman for teaching them how to operate storage seals. In each of their pouches was a small scroll containing all their spare equipment and clothing.

"Say, where is Hinata?" Naruto questioned and as if on cue, Anko seemed to pull the Hyuuga girl out of thin air. Naruto felt a blush overtake him as he gaped slightly. Hinata now wore a pair of dark purple tights that tucked into black ninja sandals. His eyes trailing up, he saw a tan skirt that went about to her knees but had slits along the sides to allow proper movement. For her top, she wore a white long sleeve shirt underneath a white sleeveless coat with lavender accents along the edges. The coat, while not as heavy as her old one, still sported white fur around the holes for her arms and the collar. She wore her shuriken holster on her lower back while her kunai holster was on her right thigh. The girl was blushing wildly under the blonde's scrupulous gaze and she felt like she was about to burst.

"Cute…" Naruto mumbled finally and that was the last straw as Hinata went off to dreamland. She fell back into Anko's arms and the Jonin shook her head disapprovingly at the development. She told Hinata she would have to show off her figure to win the blonde's heart and the girl had listened. But for her to faint meant Anko certainly had a lot to do to fulfill Iruka's request.

"Oh Sasuke, a good friend of mine is actually the best trained swordsman in the village. I'll get him out training with us when we get back from our mission. And Naruto, looks like you're a bit out of luck, because the only one I know of who could help you train would be the Hokage." Anko finished and Naruto seemed to be excited for some reason hearing that but all his attention refocused when finally processed her middle statement.

"Mission?! Already!" Naruto shouted, not so much angrily, but surprised.

"Yep, to the land of waves. Get home and pack up because it's supposed to be a two week mission. We leave in two hours" Anko said with an amused grin. Both Sasuke and Naruto panicked and took off while she was forced the carry the Hyuuga princess. Girls had to stick together after all.

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	4. Chapter 4

Hey there everyone, thanks for your continued support and I hope you can continue to enjoy my story. I plan on Kurama being a much darker and more sinister entity than in canon, so do keep that in mind. Okay now that that's out of the way let's get on with this story!

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"So you're Tazuna?" Anko questioned, looking the old man up and down. The drunkard seemed to be embarrassed by the attractive woman's gaze. Hinata quickly pushed Anko away from the client and bowed to him. While still put off by the odd woman, he still seemed to have enough wits to recognize that young girl's politeness.

"I'm Tazuna for sure, and no offence, but aren't you all a little young?" Tazuna questioned, looking over the three youths. The pale eyed girl seemed to shrink into herself, but the blonde was quick to step forward with an irritated but cocky grin.

"Listen here old man, we're all top notch ninja. So stay nice and we'll keep ya alive, believe it!" Naruto said with a thumbs up, a moment later he realized the surfacing of his vocal tick and he quickly blushed. He too, shrank into himself and that left Sasuke not looking at the ground.

"Plus I'm a Jonin specializing in assassination and interrogation, so anything on a C-Rank I could take care of in my sleep." Anko said with a grin that matched Naruto's from a few moments ago. The old man did seem nervous though, and she took note of that.

"Well alright then, just make sure to do your job and keep me alive." Tazuna said a little rushed as he began walking out of the village. The team all looked at each other and nodded before taking off after the old man.

"I feel like this is going to be a pain in the ass." Sasuke mumbled to Naruto which caused the blonde to chuckle a bit and then look at the Uchiha wide-eyed…. Did Sasuke just make a joke?

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"Hinata, could you scan the area? Don't make a commotion of it either." Sasuke whispered to the Hyuuga girl. The group had been walking for a couple hours now and the Uchiha had noticed a suspicious puddle. Rather than make a big deal of it, he was hoping Hinata would be able to assess the danger. But before any of that, a shout came out.

"Guys! Enemies!" Naruto shouted as he let loose a handful of shuriken at the puddle. Two shapes shot out of it and darted to opposite sides. A long chain connected the two, which posed a serious problem right now. Sasuke held up his Chokuto and was just barely able to hold back the chain as he braced the flat of the sword against his forearm.

"Ooh, you guys gave me an idea!" Naruto said to himself as he flashed through hand seals.

" **Chakra Chains: Bind!"** Naruto called as he let loose a long chain that was thinner than his usual binding chains. A clone came into existence next to him and allowed the other end of the chain to enter its hand. The two blonde's surged forward, one jumped over the chain and the other slid under it. Sasuke was finally able to relent on holding back the chain when the blonde's own chain began pulling against their attacker's chain. With the new momentum, he was also able to pull them both to the ground.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called as he let his chain surge back into his palm. The blonde went left while Sasuke went right. Sasuke jumped forward and spun mid-air as he approached his opponent. The second he passed over the still downed enemy, he spun and planted a vicious kick into the side of the man's head. His forward momentum let his foot pull the man's head to the side into what looked like a very painful angle. He fell unconscious as the Uchiha finally planted his head in the ground.

"Hinata, watch out!" Naruto called as his punch missed and the enemy leapt past him toward Tazuna. Hinata was already in motion though. The girl ducked under the initial claw swipe of the man and just as his claw was near Tazuna's throat, he was stopped dead in his tracks.

"I'm sorry for this." Hinata whispered as she twisted her palm, which was currently lodged in the older man's sternum. A blast of chakra sent him several feet into the air and he quickly landed with a thump.

"Shouldn't underestimate our little Hyuuga Princess." Anko said with a grin as she kicked the downed man. She walked over the one Sasuke had taken down and frowned.

"Sasuke, you dumbass, you broke his neck!" Anko said as she gave a thumbs up. Sasuke ignored the odd mixed signals and opted to say a quick apology to his mother and the man he had killed. But if he was going to kill Itachi, he couldn't afford to be squeamish and hold back.

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"So it seems like those two were hired by a man named Gato to kill ol Tazuna here." Anko said as she walked back to her group. She quickly wiped some blood from her hand and grinned childishly. However this smile only served to unnerve the old man as he began to slowly back away. He was frozen in his tracks however, when a pair of black pythons shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around his legs.

"Now, now, now, it's not very nice to keep secrets, Mr. Tazuna." Anko said as her grin slowly morphed into something far more deadly and serious. Tazuna felt a cold sweat break out over his body as the woman sauntered toward him.

"Alright! Alright! I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'll explain everything, just don't hurt me!" Tazuna cried as he dropped to his knees. Anko's smile once again was a simple childish grin as she turned to her Genin.

"See kids, isn't your sensei super scary and cool?" Anko said with a peace sign. The three Genin quickly sweat-dropped and Tazuna took this awkward silence as a cue to start his tale.

"Well you see, the Land of Waves has long been held under the boot of the man known as Gato. He is a powerful businessman who has seized control of all the shipping routes between the land of waves and the mainland. His influence is so vast that he even puts pressure on the Land of Water at times. With this much power, he has easily subjugated my entire country. However, if this bridge is completed, then trade routes he can't control will become available. As a result, the people of my country will have real hope again. Please, I'm begging you, help us!" Tazuna said with tears in his eyes as he bowed deeply to the group. He felt a hand on his shoulder then looked up only to be met with the ear to ear grin of Naruto Uzumaki.

"Sure thing gramps! You're just lucky you got the most badass Genin team around. Right guys?" Naruto said with a grin, looking back to his team. Hinata blushed a bit and nodded her head while Sasuke smirked and also nodded to signify his agreement. Anko seemed to be mulling over certain things and she flashed through a string of hand seals. Proceeding the short chain of seals, she bit her thumb and slammed her hand on the ground. In a puff of smoke, a small brown snake appeared in front of her. She wrote a couple sentences on a tiny scroll and the small snake proceeded to swallow the scroll.

"Make sure that gets to the Hokage, alright?" Anko said with a friendly smile to the snake. The little creature nodded before diving down below the surface of the ground. Anko looked back to her team with a grin and a thumbs up. "Alright, backup should be joining us in the land of waves at some point. Just told the old man to send another Jonin just in case. Not that we'll need it, but somebody has to be around to witness your awesomeness." Anko said with a Naruto-like grin. This little ploy seemed to convince the blonde hook line and sinker as he returned the enthusiasm two fold.

"Alright Tazuna, lead the way!" Naruto said with a wide grin. He would be sure to be as awesome as ever today.

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"This doesn't look good." Sasuke muttered to himself. He momentarily marveled at how they ended up in this situation. They had arrived in wave not a half hour ago. On the way to Tazuna's house, they had been attacked by someone called Zabuza. This guy seemed to immediately outclass Anko, who was not a combat specialist. The woman had still put up quite the fight as was evidenced by a deadly looking bite mark on his right pectoral. An almost black substance seemed to be travelling along the veins in that part of his chest. Sasuke looked to his new sensei, who was being held under Zabuza's heel. The man's massive sword was mere centimetres from her exposed throat.

"Well you almost got me, you Hidden Leaf Bitch, but I'll be able to drain the poison with ease. Not much point in poisoning a mist ninja's blood, or any shinobi adept in Water Ninjutsu." Zabuza said cockily as he reared his sword into the air. His eyes went wide with bloodlust as he started the downward arc toward Anko's demise, only for his swing to stop abruptly halfway down. A golden chain was laced through the large hole in the blade. Behind Zabuza, the chain had jumped out of the ground and re-entered the earth after lacing through the blade. Looking to his side, he saw Naruto's feet braced heavily against the ground as he kept the two chains wrapped around his arms.

"I'm not just gonna stand by and let you hurt our sensei. Sasuke, Hinata, get him!" Naruto shouted as he ground his teeth. Even with one arm, Zabuza was bringing his sword closer and closer to Anko's throat at a frightening pace, despite the blonde's entire body and the earth resisting him. Sasuke looked to Hinata, who was already charging forward, the Uchiha smirked and let loose a barrage of shuriken that sailed just over the Hyuuga girl's head. Zabuza's free hand caught all the shuriken with ease before rearing back to release them, only for the mist Nin to find his hand was now tangled in Ninja wire.

" **Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"** Sasuke shouted as he sent a deadly trail of flames down the ninja wire. Taking advantage of Zabuza's distracted state, Anko managed to roll away from the man. Hinata was quick to jump in front of her sensei just as the flames reached Zabuza.

" **Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"** Hinata shouted as her hands became a misty blur, a net of chakra appeared around the girl just as Sasuke's attack impacted with Zabuza and a large eruption of flame resulted. Hinata's technique easily defended both her and Anko. Quickly picking up her sensei, Hinata jumped back to Naruto and Tazuna with the wounded Jonin.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted as he felt the resistance weakened. He quickly put all his effort into hauling the chains back and they did so with little resistance. When the smoke from Sasuke's technique faded, it revealed Zabuza's sword stuck into the ground. But there was no sign of the missing-nin. Seeing this, Naruto grinned and released his chakra chains, allowing the sword to stay stuck in the ground on its own merit.

"Damn Sasuke, you incinerated him!" Naruto called with a wide grin. Sasuke meanwhile, was doing everything he could to scan the surrounding area. He knew that the technique was stronger than his standard fireball. But neither of them could destroy somebody to that calibre, let alone a Jonin of Zabuza's calibre. Unknown to him, Zabuza was currently hiding behind a nearby tree with barely any air left in his lungs. The Missing-Nin had barely dodged that last attack, but in that fit of extreme effort, he found his chest was in a lot of pain. If he tried to fight for any longer against these annoying weaklings, the poison would spread too far and even he knew about the kind of poisons the snake summons employed. Well not much beyond their deadliness, but that information is all that Zabuza really needed.

"Well it looks like he retreated. He probably realized he needed to take care of the poison I got into his system. We should get going you guys. We don't know if he has backup or not." Anko said carefully as she took Tazuna's helping hand to stand up. She signaled and the small group took off at a good walking pace back towards Tazuna's place.

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"Bro?" Naruto questioned, looking at the silver-haired Jonin. The man had shown up a mere two hours after they arrived at Tazuna's house. The man was visibly sweating as a sign of the effort he had put into travelling here.

"Oh my, it seems like I was a little late to the party. Are you doing okay, Dear little Anko?" Kakashi asked with a mock princely demeanor that earned him a hard glare from the Snake woman, puffing her cheeks out she averted her gaze from Kakashi.

"Dumbass, if my chakra coils weren't burnt out, I would have hit you for that. Now before I pass out, I think its right to give you the info I've collected-" Anko began but she was quickly silenced when Kakashi placed a finger over her lips. The offending appendage was almost bitten off, but it did its job of silencing Anko for a second.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I know what happened already. Two Chuunin known as the Demon Brothers who are missing-nin from the hidden mist village attacked you on your way to this country. You interrogated the one that survived the initial battle and found out that your client may have lied about the mission details. Regardless, you ventured forth, most likely due to Naruto's reaction to a sob story. Shortly after arriving in this country, you were attacked by Zabuza of the Hidden Mist. You managed to poison him and before he could finish you off, your cute little Genin stepped in and forced him to exert enough effort as to get the poison spreading through his system. Due to the poisoning, he was forced to retreat while another associate of his came to retrieve the sword shortly after you all left." Kakashi finished with an eye-smile. The entire group sweat-dropped at Kakashi's spot-on analysis. Hinata seemed ready to question the man's omniscience on the events of her mission, but she was silenced by a look from Naruto that simply said 'don't question it'. Nodding to the blonde, Hinata focused her attention back on Anko and Kakashi.

"Well, you are right about all that Kakashi. So all I really have to tell you is based on the poison and how much time it had to spread, I'd estimate Zabuza won't fully recover for another week or so. I won't be in good shape by then but Kakashi can take care of the muscle head. It's the only thing the cyclops has ever been good for." Anko said with a decidedly cheeky tone. Kakashi looked at her questioningly in response, which elicited an ever so elegant response from his fellow Jonin. The woman stuck her tongue out cutely and gave a quick victory sign.

"Well Anko, I think it's time you get some rest." Kakashi said with a slightly exasperated tone. Before the kunoichi could reject the statement, Kakashi had jammed his finger into a spot on the woman's neck. A moment later she seemed to pass out. Ignoring the frightened expressions of the three Genin, Kakashi faced them with a sickly-sweet eye smile.

"I don't know how strong Zabuza's accomplices are, so time to train as hard as we can for the next week." Kakashi said with a cheery demeanor that certainly did not match his expression. All three Genin felt a trickle of fear slip into their hearts at the prospect of training with the silver hired Jonin settled in their minds. They were sure to have quite the torturous week.

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"Sensei, why isn't Naruto learning elemental Jutsu like us?" Hinata questioned as she read over the notes on a Water Ninjutsu Kakashi had given her. The Jonin had been surprised by the mastery the three Genin showed over the basics, so the only logical next step was elemental training. Looking over to the blonde, who was currently balancing on a pile of baseball sized rocks, Kakashi smiled.

"Naruto actually can't manipulate Elemental chakra due to a certain problem. So he'll be working his family techniques and chakra control. There's still one technique from his mother that he hasn't gotten the hang of yet. Actually, now that I think about it..." Kakashi mumbled to himself as he seemed to lose himself in thought. Seemingly coming to a decision, the man signaled Naruto over to them.

"Naruto, how would you like to explore your mom's old home?" Kakashi said in such a nonchalant tone that the entire Genin team nearly fell over from shock. With wide violet eyes, Naruto nodded his head rapidly. Grinning under his mask, Kakashi flashed through a string of hand seals before biting his thumb and planting his open palm on the ground. In a cloud of smoke, a small pug wearing what looked like a tiny blue vest appeared. The pug also proudly brandished a Hidden Leaf Headband on the top of its tiny head.

"Pakkun, stay here and if you whiff any enemy chakra signatures, I want you to reverse summon me. Alright?" Kakashi said to the dog with a firm tone. Said canine simply gave a little salute with its pawed hand.

"Sounds good Kakashi." Pakkun said in such a low and gruff voice that all present had to sweat drop.

"Alright let's go!" Naruto shouted as he jumped to his feet with a wide grin. Hinata and Sasuke were smiling on the inside because it seemed like they would no longer have to suffer Kakashi's training.

"Oh and Pakkun, train them well." Kakashi said with an eye-smile that said he knew what they were thinking. How a man communicated such complex emotions through a single eye still threw them for a loop.

"Come on, let's go bro! We've only got a week and I don't know how far the trip is!" Naruto shouted as he jogged in place within the doorway. Kakashi waved goodbye to the group and exited the room with Naruto.

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"So Bro, what's the plan here?" Naruto questioned as he stood on a rocky beach with Kakashi. The two had been travelling for only half a day and it already seemed like their journey would be cut short. They were currently squinting to see an island far off in the distance, so far that it was only a spec on the horizon.

"Time for training then, let's see you water walk all the way there. With your chakra reserves, you should be fine. If you can control your chakra that is." Kakashi said with a smirk beneath his mask. Naruto nodded excitedly and started sprinting over the water's surface. Kakashi smiled happily under his mask. It would be a shame if his little brother out did him.

"That the fastest you can go Naruto?" Kakashi teased as he easily caught up with the blonde ninja. Naruto grunted and took off with even greater speed. However, when Kakashi easily matched his speed while running backwards, Naruto felt a fire of determination spark within him. The blonde flashed through hand seals and held out his palms.

" **Chakra Chains: Bind!"** Naruto shouted as he sent out a pair of chains far ahead, they seemed to attach to the water which brought a foxy grin to the blonde's face. With all his strength, Naruto pulled on his two chains. He shot forward with new speed. Just as he passed the location his chains were attached to the water, he let them detach and while still in mid-air, he whipped the two chains forward and once again attached them to the surface of the water.

"Damn, he sure is getting tricky with those things." Kakashi mumbled to himself. Not one to be outdone, the silver haired Jonin shot forward. Sparks of lightning erupted behind him as he moved.

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"Problem number two." Naruto mumbled to himself as he and Kakashi stood on the water's surface. They could now just nearly make out the beach of the land of whirlpools. But the path to that beach was being effectively blocked by countless raging whirlpools. Kakashi flashed through hand seals and slammed his hand on the water's surface.

" **Earth Style: Great Moving Earth Core."** Kakashi shouted and sweat broke out on his face quickly. Just as Naruto was about to question the man, a large stone platform rose from the water around them. Only about 10 metres across, the square was enough though. Kakashi finally relaxed and allowed himself to rest on the shiny rock surface.

"Naruto, we're going to charge up our chakra here for a day or two while we think of a way to get through here. But I can see you're still good to go, so how about you practice using those new weapons of yours?" Kakashi asked with a small grin. Naruto just then seemed to remember the two hanbo strapped to his hips. The blonde retrieved a small scroll from his pouch and unrolled it a bit. He tapped his finger to a small section of the complicated Kanji maze. In a cloud of smoke, he was now holding a larger scroll. The blonde quickly deposited his storage scroll back in his shuriken pouch.

"Naruto, is that a training scroll? Lemme see it real quick." Kakashi asked with an eye-smile. Naruto nodded and handed the man the scroll. With a quick movement, Kakashi unveiled his Sharingan and with speed Naruto attributed to the man's vast experience in reading, Kakashi sped through the entire scroll in only a few minutes. Covering his sharingan once again, Kakashi smiled up at Naruto.

"Okay, I might be of some help now, but first I'm take a quick nap." Kakashi said simply as he laid back on the stone platform, unconscious. Naruto sweat-dropped as he got to work with his new training.

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"Naruto, spread your feet wider and bend your elbow slightly. Good, now shift into the next stance." Kakashi instructed as he watched Naruto shift between different stances. The blonde had been training for two day's now and Kakashi was happy to say he wasn't unskilled with the weapons. "Not ready for shinobi combat, but adept enough to beat aside thugs with swords. Those little sticks being made from what they are should be able to break most cheap weapons. Given you use them properly." Kakashi chided as he rested against a small stone slab jutting out from the platform. Nearby, a small hut made from stone stood in front of a decent sized fire which was currently cooking some fish.

"Oh Naruto, I just had an idea, but I think we should both rest now and fully recover our chakra for tomorrow." Kakashi said with a starry look in his eyes. The man had been trying in earnest to come up with an idea and one he had been mulling over for a while now seemed to be the best bet. It was one of the more Naruto inspired of his plans.

"So Naruto, how's the fox been lately?" Kakashi questioned calmly, though Naruto could tell the man was worried. Ever since he had been young, Kakashi made sure to check up on Naruto in case the fox was trying anything.

"It saved my life in the Forest of Death, so it seems like it can only send me chakra when my life is in danger. The Fourth really locked it up tight that's for sure. It hasn't been in my dreams since the old toad sage came and tightened up the seal. But as he said, the seal is slowly getting more and more open. I'm supposed to control it aren't I?" Naruto questioned solemnly as he stared down at the ground. He didn't ever want to feel that bloodlust again. It truly terrified him in a way that few other things could. He felt a shiver overcome him but a warm hand on the top of his head quickly helped him calm down.

"Don't worry Naruto. I'm sure just like your mother, you can hold it back." Kakashi said seriously and with a kind familial smile. Naruto grinned up at the man as tears welled in his violet eyes. He nodded his head as his grin widened. He wouldn't let his big bro down.

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"You sure this is gonna work?" Naruto questioned as he flashed through a set of hand seals, landing on the last seal he looked to Kakashi who returned his worries with a thumbs up. Naruto grinned and finished his technique.

" **Chakra Chains: Bind!"** Naruto called as he sent out two chakra chains, one connected to Kakashi while the other lengthened toward the landmass behind the whirlpools. Naruto visibly strained as the chain grew longer and thinner. Naruto widened his stance and pushed all his chakra he could into that chain. With new strength, the chain surged through the air toward land.

"Done!" Naruto called as the chain attached itself to the very edge of the sandy beach. Kakashi nodded and flashed through hand seals.

" **Earth Style: Added-Weight Rock Technique!"** Kakashi called as he felt new strength overtake him. He was quick to pick Naruto up and throw him with all his strength through the air. Naruto flew through the air with wide eyes as Kakashi flashed through yet another set of hand seals.

" **Earth Style: Light-Weight Rock Technique!"** Kakashi muttered just as the second chakra chain pulled Kakashi with the blonde. No new resistance was met as Kakashi seemed to follow along like a feather. The two flew through the air at amazing speeds as the island seemed to come closer and closer. The two of them soon felt their velocity slowing. At that moment, Kakashi and Naruto both grasped the chain Naruto had attached to the main land. With a huge heave on the chain, they felt their speed increase some. Two thirds of their journey was already completed as they impacted the water, the whirlpools raged fiercely against them as they pulled on the chain together. What seemed like hours went by as the two battled against the deadly current. Their muscles screamed in resistance as they escaped one whirlpool only for another to pull on their bodies. Kakashi could feel his physical strength waning. He flashed through a new string of hand seals and pointed his hands in the opposite direction of the island.

" **Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"** Kakashi shouted as he poured the last of his chakra reserves into the jutsu. A massive pillar of wind blasted from his palms and tore a trench in the sea itself. The force on the two was evident as they were sent sailing through the air.

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Two limp bodies washed up on the beach of the Land of Whirlpools, the sun set beautifully behind them as the two men took choking breaths. Water sputtered out of their lungs and they remained keeled over. Several moments passed before Naruto and Kakashi looked up at each other and grinned widely, mission success.

"I'm so happy I got that chance to fight so many Hidden Stone Jonin. Those techniques are ridiculously useful. Still don't get how they really work, but oh well." Kakashi mused to himself as he laid on his back. The chakra he had put into that great breakthrough had been about two thirds of his reserves. But looking at Naruto, the Jonin knew the blonde had far surpassed that amount of chakra. The chain he made was far larger than any he had attempted before. While not exactly useful for battle, it was still a grand feat.

"Alright Bro, we're burning daylight. Let's find some awesome stuff!" Naruto shouted with a cheer. He jumped to his feet with a large grin and scanned the horizon. A stone tower could be seen poking above the tree line in the distance and the Uzumaki chose this as his point of reference.

"Naruto wait up!" Kakashi shouted as he jogged after the hyperactive Genin. A sweat drop formed on his head, wondering how his surrogate brother could have that much energy. Chuckling to himself, Kakashi followed after the violet eyed bundle of energy. The two ventured through thick foliage for a time until the tree line suddenly broke. He had come upon what looked like ancient ruins, based on the amount of plant life taking hold among the buildings.

"Don't let their appearance fool you. These buildings stood tall and proud not too long ago." Kakashi muttered as he finally caught up to Naruto. The blonde surveyed the piles of rubble and he started to notice the signs of battle. Scorch marks still marred the grounds while deep gouges in the earth could be seen all around. Blood stains were in healthy supply but Naruto had no doubt rain had washed away most of the gore from the tragedy.

"Come on, we need to get back to the rest of them. Pakkun could summon me at any time. But I'll be able to bring you along too so don't worry." Kakashi said with an eye-smile as he and Naruto ventured forth into the ruins. They were sure to find something that could help Naruto connect to his mother's family more. Well that was what Kakashi was hoping. One could never properly predict what would happen when Naruto was around.

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	5. Chapter 5

Hey there everyone! Now much to talk about this time so let's get on with the show!

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"Naruto, over here!" Kakashi called out from across the ruins. Naruto came jogging up to the man several moments later. Kakashi was currently kneeled over a sealing formula he had found.

"What's this?" Naruto asked as he kneeled next to Kakashi. Naruto looked around and found that they were in the ruins of some sort of dojo.

"Naruto, channel some chakra into this sealing array." Kakashi commanded. He knew they couldn't afford to dilly dally any longer. If Zabuza showed up before they got back, it was sure to be trouble. Naruto seemed to sense the urgency and did as told. The Uzumaki placed his hand on the seal and started to channel chakra.

"Gah!" Naruto exclaimed as five chakra chains sprung up immediately. They all dug into the Uzumaki's back as Kakashi also panicked. The man was getting ready to activate his lightning blade when he noticed Naruto wasn't bleeding.

"What is this?" Naruto wondered out loud as he felt the chains siphoning off his chakra. As the chains continued draining him, the seal beneath them grew wider and wider. Naruto and Kakashi both braced themselves as a large influx of chakra alerted them to the activation of something important. The seal flashed a golden colour before the two disappeared in a shimmer of chakra.

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"Where are we?" Kakashi wondered as he looked around with wide eyes. This place seemed to be in far better shape than the last area. While the signs of battle where still evident, the combat that had taken place here was clearly quick and bloody. Large blood stains littered the otherwise pristine stairs leading up to a large ornate temple. Reminiscent of the temples of the Fire country's monks, the place was surely massive. It didn't seem grandiose, just large.

"I feel something, this way." Naruto said calmly as he treaded forth. Kakashi was still feeling nervous but he decided to trust the young blonde's instinct. Following along, Kakashi surveyed the damage. The bloodstains were easy to examine as slit throats. All from behind with swords of different types. Well Hidden Cloud had been a part of the invasion, so this made sense. They entered the temple and both were surprised to find a much different state of affairs. The entire place seemed trashed. No walls or floors were damaged, but a hard battle had obviously been fought here.

"This way!" Naruto said in a faraway voice. He seemed to be drawn to the back of the room where a massive sealing array decorated the wall. To Kakashi, it looked more like a beautiful wall painting than anything else, but even with his limited skill in the art, he could tell that many complicated seals were interwoven within it. As he scanned the wall, Naruto treaded forth and was ready to place his palm to the centre.

"Naruto, wait." Kakashi called suddenly but Naruto didn't seem to be able to hear him. Before Kakashi could stop him, the blonde had placed his hand on the seal.

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"Well hello there, young one." A gentle voice chimed through the air. Naruto blinked away the light from his eyes as he adjusted to the bright white of his surroundings.

"Oh, I see that you are not only of Lady Mito's lineage, but also share her burden. Well it seems I may be able to pass on all our knowledge yet" The same voice hummed pleasantly. Naruto finally adjusted to the light and found he was sitting within an endless white void. He looked around and was greeted with a silky red fabric. He looked up and found the fabric belonged to the Kimono of a red haired woman with vibrant violet eyes.

"Just like mom…" Naruto muttered. Looking up at the smiling woman, Naruto felt something swell in his chest. Something familial and safe that he hadn't felt before. Before he could say anymore, the woman distracted him with a soft giggle. Like soft chimes, it seemed to reverberate through the void. Helping Naruto to his feet, she looked him up and down.

"Well, it seems that little Kushina found herself a husband outside the clan." The girl said in that same soft voice. Naruto was knocked out of his stupor by that name.

"You know my mom?" The blonde questioned nervously and the woman nodded her head. Before Naruto could say anything else, she placed a delicate finger on his lips.

"Now that the seal is broken, we have little time. I must impart my knowledge in you before we run out of time. I'll leave all the irrelevant things deeper in your mind for later, but I feel like there are some things you would want to know sooner rather than later." The woman said in that same soft voice. Naruto nodded as he felt a large influx of something in the back of his head. He almost fell over, but the woman caught him.

"Now now, can't have you fainting on me yet. I have some things to tell you." The woman said with a small giggle as she helped Naruto right himself. Once Naruto was stable again, she seemed ready to talk more.

"As you've probably already learned in part, our clans massive chakra reserves stop us from using elemental manipulation. Though in your case, your diluted blood may prove to be a strength. However, you can discover that path for yourself. With this handicap against us, the Uzumaki were forced to find their own path of the shinobi. We settled on pure chakra manipulation and sealing. Over the years, the rest of the clans bickered, fought, and formed villages while we perfected our own arts. Around the time of the second great shinobi war, we were forced to intervene due to our new alliance with the leaf. The Uzumaki's first foray into war could be described as brutal. Our clan was divided into two sectors, the first was composed predominantly of women that specialized in our Sealing Jutsu. They served as the support and leaders of the teams. The other half was our frontline fighters. We called them our Cerulean Knights, on account of the chakra they wielded so liberally. They were a smaller group, being composed mostly of men, our clan was predominantly female after all. But they were certainly very powerful. The jutsu they wielded lacked any typing, but they were varied enough to counter any jutsu out there. Naruto, I believe you will be our next cerulean knight." The woman said with fire in her eyes. Naruto nodded with wide eyes, looking up to the woman. He was currently in a minor state of shock due to the overload of information.

"Well I already know how to use-" Naruto was cut of quickly by the woman, who giggled a bit at his excitement. Naruto seemed to understand and stayed quiet.

"I know of your use of our chakra chains Naruto. Being in this seal allows me to look through all of your memories." The woman said and a small tear trailed down her cheek. Gently brushing the tear aside, the woman continued. "The chakra chains are the beginning of all our clans training. They are most immensely useful weapons and act as catalysts for most of our sealing Jutsu. The reason you're having trouble with that third technique is because it is the first step into the Sealing aspect of the Uzumaki. I believe you will find more success with these. The techniques of our cerulean knights." The woman said as she pulled a deep blue scroll out from nowhere. She handed it to Naruto, who carefully tucked it into his back pouch. Nodding at him, the woman seemed to grow much more translucent.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to ask me any questions, as I'll be fading quickly. Now I have some more things to tell you. With the last of my energy, I'll pull the reigns in on that beast within you. It's what you want, right?" The woman asked and to her great shock, Naruto shook his head immediately.

"Sorry lady, but I'm gonna beat this thing within me myself. I'll become one of your cerulean knights or whatever. But I'm not going to ignore what my mom left to me. I'll learn that stuff too. I'll master all the Uzumaki techniques, just you watch!" Naruto said with a grin and a thumbs up. Quickly getting over her shock, the woman smiled warmly. Rubbing his hair gently, the woman leaned in and kissed Naruto's forehead, which shut the blonde up immediately.

"I'm very happy little Kushina was able to bring such a nice boy into this world. I'll use the last of my chakra for something else then. I'll impart my chakra in you. This chakra of mine is much more in tune to sealing techniques. You can't reject this gift, Naruto Uzumaki." The woman finished as she burst into shimmering gold chakra. Naruto felt that chakra enter his system and warm him up all over as the white void faded away.

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"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted nervously. For the past several moments, Naruto had been standing stone still with a sphere of seals blocking him from Kakashi. However, Kakashi was busy with his own problems at the moment. Just as Naruto was trapped in that sphere, Kakashi found several beasts summoned around him. They consisted of a three headed dog, a panda brandishing a pillar as a blunt weapon, and a massive gecko. Kakashi's sharingan was spinning wildly as he dodged an attack from the gecko that was currently invisible.

" **Chakra Chains: Seal!"** Naruto called out as three chains shot from his palm, each chain pierced a beast. Even the invisible gecko was speared through the chest. The chains rapidly split into smaller chains that wrapped over the entirety of the beasts. In puffs of smoke, all three of the beasts disappeared. Kakashi looked behind him to see Naruto glowing with golden chakra. The boy dropped to his knees as the chakra receded into him.

"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi questioned as he took a knee next to Naruto, who was breathing rather heavily. Naruto looked up at Kakashi with a small grin as several tears fell down his face.

"I finally found more out about my clan Bro, and I know how to get stronger now. Strong enough to stop that fox from hurting anyone else." Immediately after his statement, Naruto felt a burning pain shoot through his body. Naruto dropped to the ground as red chakra bubbled to the surface. Within the confines of the seal, the Nine Tailed Fox was thrashing violently against a group of chains. Outside, Kakashi watched in horror as Naruto squirmed around but he was also perplexed by the layer of golden chakra protecting Naruto from the dangerous red chakra.

" **Nooooo! I was getting so close to taking over! You won't impede my progress you whore!"** The fox howled violently as a massive stone tablet formed behind him, massive gold chakra chains lashing out and wrapping around the fox. The woman from the seal glared violently at the fox as she tightened the chains.

"I won't let you hurt my Grandson anymore monster!" The woman shouted as the fox was locked in place. Smiling, the grandmother of Naruto Uzumaki faded away within his consciousness. Regardless of the boy's objections, after seeing the Fox's progress, she knew she had to protect him. Back in the physical realm, Naruto had finally stopped thrashing as the gentle gold chakra faded with the violent red.

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Naruto awoke in a cold sweat with his arm jutting through the thin wall of Tazuna's home. Several seconds of fuzzy thoughts and heavy breathing ticked by like hours as Naruto tried to get a handle on everything that had happened. Finally convincing himself it wasn't a dream, he took stock of his surroundings. He was back in Tazuna's house, in the same bed Anko had been staying in when he had left with Kakashi. All his gear was neatly laid out beside him, along with a rather large cinnamon bun. Naruto reminded himself to thank Hinata as he bit into the large pastry. The blonde's demeanor immediately shifted into a more relaxed state as he chewed the scrumptious treat. The events that took place back in the temple slowly organized themselves within his head as he finished off the cinnamon bun. Looking to his shuriken pouch, he reached inside and was pleasantly surprised when he pulled out a familiar blue scroll. So that meant everything that happened inside that seal was real then.

'So the seal faded away, then I used that lady's power to save bro, then…' Naruto trailed off as he felt around his chakra network. He had never noticed before, but the nine-tails chakra had always left a hot feeling in his stomach. He had always had it so he never noticed, but surely now he could feel something different in that same place, something far more warm and safe. Lifting his shirt up, Naruto looked to his stomach and molded his chakra. Sure enough, a new seal was now in place. What looked like immensely complicated chains laced over the seal in a swirl pattern. Naruto couldn't even feel a trickle of the fox's chakra, instead, he felt that comforting warmth. He focused on that warmth for several long moments and sure enough, a small slip of it slipped out and into his system. A barely noticeable golden glow flowed along his skin for a second until his thought process was broken by murderous intent.

"Stay away from my mom!" Inari shouted angrily as he ran at the mercenary duo currently keeping his mother from him. Both men grinned as they prepared to draw their swords. The boy had seemed complacent until they made it out onto the dock in front of the house. Now it seemed like they would get at least a little fun out of this assignment. Just as they were prepared to cut the boy to shreds, two chains shot out of the ground behind them. Faster than the two could act, the chains wrapped around there necks and slammed them back into the ground with enough force to knock them out.

" **Chakra Chains: Bind."** Naruto said calmly from within the house as he retracted the chains. He lifted his hand from the floor and quickly proceeded to fasten his equipment onto his person. An attack like this in broad daylight meant those two knew the ninja were all occupied. That meant Zabuza. And while he had confidence in his team, the blonde still found himself extremely nervous. He was internally hoping the two had grown stronger while he was away. Anyone who gained a Ninja like Zabuza's trust, had to be pretty strong. And despite all their training, he doubted his teammates could hold up long against a Jonin of calibre even close to Zabuza's. Hell, he doubted all three of them could do that, but he somehow felt that if all three of them were together, then they could pull through. With that thought in mind, he took off at a breakneck pace, making sure to summon some clones to take care of Tazuna's family along the way.

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"Hinata here he comes!" Sasuke shouted as he adjusted the grip on his two kunai. The Uchiha stood back to back with the Hyuuga heiress inside a dome of large ice mirrors that were growing closer to becoming a solid walled dome by the second. The two had gotten into a good rhythm of dodging and parrying since the boy Haku's first attack, but as was evidenced by the dozens of needles in their bodies, the two were far from untouchable. Once again, a hailstorm of senbon rained down from all direction faster than they could track. Both burst into action as Hinata's palms glowed with chakra and Sasuke's kunai seemed to smolder with chakra. Gentle fist and kunai cut through senbon at amazing speeds as the two ducked and weaved and flipped together in unison. Hinata's Byakugan allowing her to match Sasuke's movements, while the Uchiha kept an acute awareness of his surroundings that he found invigorating. Hinata, meanwhile, couldn't find the energy to tell him his eyes were now blood red with black tomoe in each, two in his right and one in his left.

" **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"** Sasuke shouted when he found a moment of reprieve. A large fireball shot forth toward a seemingly random location, only for a target to zip by the fireball, missing it by only a few centimetres. Sasuke smirked to himself as he got back into position with Hinata. However, that new confidence was swallowed up as the dome suddenly became darker. Sasuke scanned around and noticed the dome was now solid and they were faced with no escape routes at all.

"My technique has now reached its true form. You have no chance now." Haku droned in an emotionless voice that sent a shiver down Hinata's spine. Meanwhile, on the outside of the dome, both Kakashi and Zabuza were already beginning combat while Anko stood beside Tazuna. An angry look marred the woman's face as she glared holes at Kakashi, who had used a minor lightning technique to freeze her weakened body. Shifting her attention to the dome, the woman felt a pang of worry echo through her heart. The dome was now solid and she could no longer sense chakra from within the ice structure. Just as her stress was reaching its peak, she grinned, feeling another presence fast approaching.

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"Almost there guys, just hold on!" Naruto shouted to no nobody but himself. The blonde sailed through the woods with speed he hadn't known before. As he finally found himself shrouded in mist the blonde grinned, he was almost there. Naruto suddenly broke the tree line and looked around with wide eyes. He saw Kakashi fighting Zabuza, seemingly at a standstill, while Anko stood stationary by Tazuna with a grimace on her face. The final thing his eyes landed on was the ice dome, from within he could feel his teammates wavering chakra signatures, along with a third, much stronger, one. Running up to the dome, he reared back his fist with as much chakra as he could muster behind it. The impact was solid, but the blonde grimaced when not even a dent formed in the ice. His hand however was already swelling slightly.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit! Come on fox help out!" Naruto shouted as he punched at the dome more. With each second his friend's chakra grew weaker and weaker and with each second the blonde dug deeper for that dangerous fire-like feeling he had associated with the fox's power.

' _Sorry Naruto, but I'm afraid you won't have access to that power anymore.'_ A gentle voice cooed from within his head. Naruto focused on it and felt that same warmth that was now resting in his stomach. Matching the voice, he finally realized it and his eyes widened.

' _I know you might not be pleased with me right now, but I'll explain later. For now you need to break through that Jutsu. There is a technique with that can be used with enough blunt force. You won't be able to use the actual technique, but thanks to your chains you can use a bastardization of it. Now summon your binding chains and wrap them around your hands and forearms.'_ The woman said with urgency and Naruto nodded. He flashed through the hand seals and slammed his palms together.

" **Chakra Chains: Seal!"** The blonde focused and watched the golden chains spring out and coil around his hands and arms.

' _Good, now go through these hand seals.'_ The woman instructed and Naruto's chain coated hands struggled to follow along with the chain of seals. Finally landing on the last one, Naruto watched the chains melt away into blue chakra that formed a vague fist shape around his hand.

' _The chakra is no longer focusing on sealing as is denoted by the gold colour. Now it's simple raw destructive chakra. Smash that wall and save your friends!'_ The woman shouted and Naruto grinned and thrust his fist forward. Chakra blasted from his elbow as the gauntlet of raw chakra smashed the ice dome to pieces with ease. Ice shards fell as Haku was unceremoniously blasted away. The gauntlet stayed intact as Naruto ran up to his friends who were lying on the ground, motionless. Their bodies both resembled pincushions, but Naruto could see Sasuke had taken the brunt of the needles. Feeling anger swell within him, the gauntlet on his arm started to warp and shape as it became something different. Naruto stalked toward Haku, who looked at the blonde with wide eyes. His mask was already shattered. Haku sent out a barrage of needles at Naruto, who took a crouching stance and reared his fist back. Launching a punch at the last second, a blast of chakra boomed form the gauntlet that now seemed to be sharpening into a wicked piece of gear. The chakra was tightened to his skin to create what looked like a solid blue gauntlet. Blue chakra jutted out into dangerous spikes along the sides that jutted out and back. The top grooves formed and styled the gauntlet further with curved lines following the contour of Naruto's arm. The chakra took on the form of solid plates that slid against each other with each movement of Naruto's arm. As he charged the downed Haku, the fist of Naruto's gauntlet shrunk unto his hand and formed a sort of metal plating over his hand while the palm seemed to retain movement. Two wicked spikes jutted straight forward from just above the two outermost knuckles as Naruto planted his fist into Haku's stomach.

" **Cerulean Knight Martial Art: Chakra Cestus!"** Naruto shouted the name of the technique being slipped into his head at the last moment by his new tenant. Haku's mouth hung agape and his body collapsed in on Naruto's fist as the blonde dug the technique into Haku's stomach. Just as the punch seemed to reach its apex, a massive blast of chakra sent Haku sailing through the air toward Kakashi and Zabuza's fight. Naruto felt faint as the chakra cost caught up with him. The Uzumaki took a knee and wheezed for a few moments.

' _Oh dear, it seems forcing the full technique without proper training has made it cost ten times the normal chakra cost. But it seems like the silver haired fellow will have this wrapped up in short order.'_ Just as the woman said this, Haku's body impacted the ground beside Zabuza. The young boy was unconscious the second he left contact with Naruto's gauntlet. Zabuza looked over as Kakashi charged up his lightning blade. Growling at the sight, Zabuza felt his chakra surge enough to break the ninja dogs hold on him. Kakashi charged forward with his technique, only to be met with the flat side of Zabuza's sword. The Demon of the Hidden Mist rushed Kakashi with new vigor that the man took in stride, dodging and countering with a kunai stab occasionally, Kakashi was no longer in a rush to finish things. He could see from Haku's defeat that he could focus on the enemy in front of him now.

"Sasuke! Hinata!" Naruto choked out as he finally regained his strength and ran toward his friends. Dropping to his knees beside them, he watched all of Haku's ice needles melt rapidly. It seemed with the boy being unconscious now, the needles would lose their form. Laying them both on their backs, Naruto's eyes widened when they both took sudden breaths in. Sasuke's eyes shot open and Naruto grinned childishly.

"Looks like I saved you this time, Sasuke." Naruto teased as the Uchiha looked at him with a lost expression. Seemingly regaining his bearings, Sasuke tried to hide a chuckle. Hinata breathed steadily and Naruto propped her up against him, holding her upper body in his right arm. Sasuke smiled a bit at the worry in the blonde's features as the last few memories from the dome flashed into his mind.

Flashback!

Sasuke had messed up. The Uchiha had overextended on a dodge and now it seemed as though he was defeated. The extra-long barrage bore down on him and at nearly the last moment, Hinata pushed him to the ground. Sasuke looked up at the girl with wide eyes as she smiled at him.

"…Tell Naruto… I lo-" Hinata was cut off as Sasuke's reflexes kicked back into action. Spinning on his back, the Uchiha knocked Hinata to the ground. The weakened girl seemed to lose consciousness from the impact alone. At the very last second, Sasuke flipped himself over the girl with his back facing the hail of needles.

"…Tell him yourself." Sasuke muttered with a smirk as the rain of senbon bashed into his back. The Uchiha lost consciousness by the time half of the needles had impacted.

Flashback Over!

"Well…What do we have there?" A disgusting voice gurgled from the other side of the bridge. Sasuke was knocked from his reverie as he looked up at the approaching army. Both Zabuza and Kakashi had halted their combat to stare at the approaching horde. Gato stood at the head, his diminutive size making him appear almost childish next to the hulking men surrounding him.

"It seems like little Zabuza could only take down one of you. Oh well, you all look suitably worn out so my men should be able to pick you off easily enough. Get 'em boys!" Gato called with an ugly smirk. Soon after, the army all charged forward with greed in their eyes. All the shinobi present paled at the thought of having to fight such a large force in their current state. They certainly wouldn't escape unscathed. However, Anko chose that moment to step up.

"Finally, I can move! I've got this!" Anko shouted in childish glee as she flashed through hand seals, then bit her thumb just a moment before she slammed her palm on the ground.

' **Summoning Jutsu!"** Anko shouted as a massive cloud of smoke appeared. From within the swirling screen, a shape formed. With a quick flick of its tail, a massive Navy Blue snake appeared. Before Anko said anything, the snake surged forth and what followed looked rather amusing. The giant creature played with the trained mercenary's like cheap toys that it tossed over the side with its swift tail. Occasionally, it would swallow one whole and screams of suffering would echo from its stomach. Finally, when it seemed Gato was the only one left, the Snake winked at Anko and disappeared. Slowly all present grew to accept the odd circumstance's of the army's defeat. Anko was surely interesting, that was for sure. The woman herself however seemed to be on her last legs. Obviously the woman was not one to have massive chakra reserves and something on that scale probably took all she had. However before she fell over, the woman sent a grin and a thumbs up toward her three students, one of which returned the thumbs up with equal vigor.

"You Leaf Ninja… are an odd bunch." Zabuza mumbled from under his bandages and Kakashi nodded in agreement. He knew Gai, so he was in no position to argue with that statement.

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Hinata felt herself regain consciousness as her senses were flooded with new information, flinching at first because of the memories of what had happened. Was she dead? No, the girl knew that wasn't. The fact that the world slowly came into focus to all of her senses proved that. First, she felt she was lying on something that was sturdy, but undeniably comfortable and warm. The girl's nose wiggled as a familiar scent permeated her sense. Then with sudden realization, she realized where she was as her eyes shot open to confirm her suspicions.

"Eep!" Was all that escaped her throat as she looked up behind her at the sleeping face of Naruto Uzumaki, who was currently resting against the wall behind the mattress they were situated on. Hinata looked at the two arms wrapped around her protectively as a blush of herculean proportion burst onto her features. Hinata felt herself grow faint but was able to remain conscious due to a rather loud perverted giggle. Looking across the room she, her features morphed into pure fear and horror seeing Kakashi, along with Anko and Sasuke, all staring at them. She attempted to jump out of Naruto's arms, but found the blonde's hold on her was too strong. A camera flash alerted her to the small novelty camera Sasuke was holding, a smirk spanned the Uchiha's entire face as he chuckled to himself.

"Poor Naruto wouldn't let go of you but he ended up falling asleep like that, how cuuuuuute." Anko cooed as Hinata's eyes seemed to bulge out of her skull. Naruto's eyes fluttered open due to the camera flash and he immediately took stock of the situation. Letting go of Hinata, Naruto slowly stood up and cracked his back.

"Good morning, Hinata." Naruto said simply with a dumb smile on his face. Everyone, besides Hinata, face-palmed at the massive blush Naruto was trying to hide with his nonchalance. Anko watched with a wide smile as the two youth's awkwardly avoided each other's gazes.

"…Fuckin Brat's." Zabuza mumbled from the corner of the room, both Naruto and Hinata's blushes disappeared upon noticing the man. Kakashi waved aside the dangerous atmosphere the two were giving off with an eye smile.

'Relax you two, we're all square now. Zabuza and Haku just wanted to talk with you two before heading off." Kakashi said cheerily. Naruto and Hinata both nodded as Zabuza took a step forth. He reached out his hand to Naruto and the blonde looked at it inquisitively.

"You did good beating Haku like that brat. You earned my respect. And for sparing him, I also place myself in your debt. Upon my honour as a ninja swordsman, I'll repay this debt one day." Zabuza said seriously as Naruto gingerly accepted the man's hand and was surprised to find a small silver object dropped into his palm. Naruto looked at it and found that it was a small silver pendant shaped like Zabuza's sword, with the Kanji for seven scrawled over it. Kakashi and Anko's eyes widened at seeing the pendant that Naruto was examining.

"Keep that on hand and one day when you need my help, just channel your chakra onto it. It's connected to my sword by a summoning contract, so I'll be summoned to your position upon its activation. You only get to use it once though, so be careful with it." Zabuza said with a smirk and before anyone could react to what the man said, both he and Haku disappeared in clouds of smoke. Everyone present blinked slowly as they tried to wrap their heads around what had just happened.

"Naruto, you should guard that thing very closely. Each of the seven swords wielded by the Ninja Swordsmen of the mist is paired with one of those pendants. Usually, they are given to ones lover or close friend, but it seems Zabuza chose to give his to you. Surely, he will be saving you one day, so always remember to have that as a last resort." Kakashi said seriously and Naruto nodded in response. He unraveled the chain, attached the pendant, and tucked the object underneath his clothing.

"Well… this was an eventful mission." Anko droned out and Kakashi couldn't find it within himself to do anything but nod in agreement. It certainly had been a wild ride.

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End file.
